The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

I’m actually embarrassed to make the forthcoming confession, but I’m going to do it anyway, because this is a safe place of sharing. 

Here it is:  I went to one of those yuppy suburban high schools, the kind that’s very similar to West Beverly High on “90210,” where the kids go to a school with uniforms and the scoreboards provided by Pespi, and have an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a field house with joint-cushioning springs underneath.  

I’m not ashamed of my high school, because I got a great education and had a great time.  More than that, I had some amazing lunches.  Because our cafeteria was awesome.  It was better than the food served in college, and even in some restaurants.  I had access to salads, burgers, fries, hot pretzels, chicken sandwiches, fried cheese on Tuesdays, and even had two different flavors of low-fat ice cream twice a week.  It was ‘til this day some of the best food I’ve ever had…and 11 years later, I still crave two things: salty French fries and nacho cheese, but mostly, the chocolate chip cookies.  

I am a Cookie Monster.  I inherited the gene from my grandmother, and the cookies I had at that school, the cookies I could smell baking in the hallway around the start of fourth period, were the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had.  And the reason my dessert of choice, my treat after a crappy day, my favorite snack to sneak into the movies is chocolate chip cookies.  

A year ago, I set out to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe, one that rivaled my high school’s freshly baked delights.  

The recipe on the back of the Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip bag was a good start, but I knew I could do better.  And I tried a few others that were good, but they just weren’t right.  I also refused to make a recipe by Jacques Torres that requires bread flour, a chocolate so fancy  I couldn’t even find or afford it and 24 hours. After awhile, I felt like the Goldilocks of Chocolate Chip cookies.  

Until I discovered this recipe.  

And they are by far, the most perfect chocolate chip cookie that’s ever come out of my kitchen.  They’re easy to make, chewy, chocolaty, decadent and with a little pinch of sea salt, they are a bit more complex than the average cookie.  

So I might not use calculus or chemistry, but this is one lesson from high school I'll never forget.  Go Highlanders!

Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever

Adapted from Savory Sweet Life

Yield: About 3 dozen

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

1 ½ cup dark brown sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp. smallish-medium coarse sea salt, plus more for sprinkling (do not use table salt)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 360 degrees. 

Cream butter, white and dark brown sugar until it is nice and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium-high.  Add both eggs and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes. 

In a separate bowl mix in flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.  Whisk to combine.  Add half of flour mixture to sugar and eggs and beat just enough to incorporate.  Scrap down the sides with a spatuala and add the rest of the dry ingredients and blend again.  

Add the chocolate chips.  Mix until well-distributed.  The batter should be somewhat thick but airy. 

Drop about 2 tablespoons (or you can use a medium cookie scoop) onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Gently pat or shape cookies into a smooth round shape.  Sprinkle cookies with a scant amount of sea salt.  This is optional, but it adds great texture and the burst of salt both highlights and contrasts the flavors. 

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or just until the cookies are a light golden broken.  Remove from the heat, but allow cookies to remain on the baking sheet for another 5 minutes, and then transfer to a cool, non-porous surface lined with parchment paper.  Allow cookies to cool for another few minutes. It will take the willpower of a saint, but try anyway.  ;)

Gingerbread Snowflakes (and More Merry Treats)

Christmas is coming.  The goose getting fat.  Or that's just me from all the taste-testing and coopie swaps. 
I spent the better part of two days in the kitchen baking a dessert basket for my family.  I got a little carried away and ended up making so many delicious sweets that my kitchen resembled a buffet fit for Mr. Claus himself. 

I've never made gingerbread cookies before.  I've made edible houses with it (that probably were unsafe even for gumdrop people) and I've smelled the artifical gingerbread in latte and candle form around this time of year.  The cookie itself is spicy and unique and not at all sweet.  Rolling them out is a mini work-out for the arms.  Decorating them is always a sugary good time!   And the benefits?  Frosting with painfully sweet icing is almost a must and your house smells like all things Christmas.  It'll have even the greenest grinch singing carols in no time. 



Gingerbread Snowflakes
by Marth Stewart
6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup packed dark-brown sugar

4 teaspoons ground ginger

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

1 teaspoon finely ground pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 large eggs

1 cup unsulfured molasses

Directions

1.Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl. Set aside.

2.Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough into thirds; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.

3.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to a 1/4-inch thick. Cut into snowflakes with a 7- inch snowflake-shape cookie cutter. Space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

4.Bake cookies until crisp but not dark, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

5.Put icing in a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip (such as Ateco #7). Pipe designs on snowflakes; immediately sprinkle with sanding sugar. Let stand 5 minutes; tap off excess sugar. Let icing set completely at room temperature, about 1 hour. Store cookies between layers of parchment in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.

Royal Icing


2 egg whites
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups confectioner's sugar

Beat egg whies and lemon juice in an electric mixer until frothy. Add sifted sugar. Beat until smooth.

Sprinkle cookies with colored sanding sugars immediately after frosting. 



Best.  Blizzard.  Ever!


Other Treats and Recipes!



Recipe for Salted Caramel Puffs is HERE.



Recipe for Chocolate Toffee Pretzels is HERE.



Recipe for Fantastic Five-Layer Bars is HERE.





Add some cellophane bags, festive ribbons and VIOLA!  You have a gift for the entire family.

Decadent Monster Cookies

*Recipe revised on December 24th.

I’m leaving for Las Vegas—my first real vacation in six years—so it is fitting that the theme of this post be overindulgence. The most decadent thing I’ve made in recent memory has to be a recipe I adapted from Paula Deen’s Monster Cookies (Do you say Paula Deen's name in a southern accent?  I do!). This cookie combines peanut butter, oats, candy, and pretty much whatever else you want into a squishy, flourless cookie dough that’s as fun to play with as it is addicting.

I started making these with my niece when she was five. Most children are masters in overindulgence. When they dress themselves, they want to wear the purple pants, the green tutu and ALL of their necklaces. When they make cookies, they want to add all of the chocolate chips and candy pieces in the WHOLE WORLD and seventy bazillion cups of whatever else they love. These cookies are designed to take it.


And it works in the way that purple pants-green tutu on an adorable four-year-old works.


These cookies are an addiction in our family to the point that we make them even without the munchkin around.


So while I’m gambling away my cash or partying all night in Las Vegas, you can have a little indulgence of your own in a flourless cookie!  Hee!




Monster Cookies
foodtv.com

Ingredients
3 eggs

1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 12-ounce jar creamy peanut butter

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 cup M&Ms, optional (about two regular-size bags)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup toffee

2 teaspoons baking soda

4 cups old-fashioned oats

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins, if using, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 9 to 13 minutes until cookies are light golden brown. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in a large airtight container.



Yes, it looks weird.  It's supposed to!


Oh, pretty colors!  Let's add MORE STUFF!


*This recipe is gluten-free if you use GF baking soda and oats.

Saturday Chef's Gold Medal Cinnamon Toffee Cookies

I probably should have warned all…six (!!!) of you that I am a ridiculous, over-the-top, obsessive compulsive Olympics fan, especially the winter games. Every four years, I live to cheer on Bode Miller, Julia Mancuso and especially, Apolo Anton Ohno. Until they are over, I am useless. Instead of cooking, I watched all of the 865 hours of Olympic coverage, save a few hours for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies because not even the healthcare-lovin’, weed-smokin’ Canadians can top the awe-inspiring spectacle of China’s opening opus.

Alas, the medals have been handed out. Hockey games have been played. Dreams have been both dashed and achieved. Those stupid montages have made me cry. And all over the world, thousands of athletes are scarfing down pizza and nachos and cake. So, it’s back to all things culinary.

These little cookies deserve a gold medal of their own. I am not the biggest fan of baking as I am cooking. But a cookie is a blank canvas, a round of inspiration with its confetti of chips or nuts or candies. Chocolate chips are just the beginning of what could go into a cookie. Adding buttery toffee and spicy, cinnamon elevates a classic cookie to Olympic levels of deliciousness.

 

 
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups toffee bits

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a bowl. Stir the mixture with a fork to break up any lumps.

In a large bowl, cream butter, sugars, and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping and mixing after each one. Beat in flour mixture in increments. Add toffee and mix until just combined. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in toffee.

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets lined with parchment paper. The toffee is sticky and this will save you a lot of scrubbing. Also cool on racks or parchment.

Cookies will bake a bit flat. Let them bake for about 11 to 13 minutes. If cookies seem soft, leave them on the sheet for a few minutes.

Store in air tight container.

Note: The cinnamon flavor may seem subtle in the batter and immediately after cookies are baked, but it will intensify after a day or so.

Credit: Adapted from the Nestle Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

A Very Belated Foodie Christmas: Glittering Lemon Sandwich Cookies and Raisin Almond Granola

Time clearly is an ever-evolving thing. It drags. It flies by. It can be lost. It seemed ludicrous that people were preparing for Christmas before Halloween. Then time bended and flat out disappeared and suddenly, Christmas was four days away. I had gifts to buy, prepare and wrap. Unfortunately I didn’t have the time to prepare the amazing blogging extravaganza I had planned for The Saturday Chef’s first Christmas. *sigh* After a snow/ice/rain storm was forecasted as a Christmas disaster, and ended up being completely lackluster, I literally spent Christmas Day in the kitchen, making cookies, braising meats, dipping Oreo truffles, and making granola because our cancelled Christmas plans were suddenly back on.

So, um, here are the next two recipes for Saturday Chef’s First Annual Very Foodie Christmas! Better late than never.


I made these delightful little gems for my grandmother, who is unabashedly obsessed with cookies. They are easy to make and will amaze anyone who is lucky enough to receive them. I must confess I’m a little OCD, so I was painstakingly careful not to get any of the pink sugar on the green cookies and green on the pink. It was a little time-consuming, but worth it in the end.

This recipe was adapted from Shelley Wiseman’s recipe in Gourmet magazine, 2008. I am not a big fan of lemon zest, so I removed it from both the cookies and the frosting. The cookies are much more versatile without it, and I can’t wait to create more fillings to put on them.






For cookies:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Colored sanding sugars

For filling:
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

Equipment: a heavy-duty sealable bag

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt.
Beat together butter and confectioners sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. At low speed, mix in flour mixture just until a soft dough forms.
Put sanding sugars in different bowls. Roll a rounded teaspoon of dough into a bowl and drop into colored sugar. I used a small round bowl, and swirled the cookie balls in it. It not only keeps the shape of the cookies, but ensures that they are evenly coated in sugar. Transfer to baking sheet and space about an inch apart.
Bake until tops are slightly cracked but still pale (bottoms will be pale golden), 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment to a rack to cool completely.
Form and bake more cookies on second baking sheet. I used a different sheet for each sugar color.

Make filling and sandwich cookies:
Beat together all filling ingredients in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until combined well. Transfer to sealable bag and snip off a corner.
Turn over half of cookies and pipe about 1/2 teaspoon filling on flat side of each. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing gently.

*Note: I made these cookies exactly the way the recipe dictated, and they were fantastic. When I make these again (probably on New Year's Eve), however, I will not make them as sandwich cookies because they are hard to eat, and let's face it: they kind of look like little tushies. I plan to simply pipe the filling on the flat side of the cookies, and place frosting-side up so it can set. They will not only be easier to eat, but this will save a lot of time. And you can eat twice as many!


Raisin Almond Granola: The Perfect Stocking Stuffer


My father likes odd food. He loves everything from canned sardines to quinoa. I saw Alton Brown make some granola bars on “Good Eats” and was surprised by how easy it was. I decided to do the same with an Ina Garten recipe and put it in my dad’s stocking for Christmas a few years ago with wonderful results.

He liked it more than the sweater I bought him.



4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups sliced or slivered almonds
1 1/2 cups raisins and/or dried cranberries*
½ cup of wheat germ (optional)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Toss the oats, wheat germ and nuts together in a large bowl. Pour the vegetable oil and honey over the mixture. Add the cinnamon, and stir with a wooden spoon until all the oats and nuts are coated. If it looks a bit too dry, add a bit more honey.
Pour onto two sheet pans so the granola will bake evenly. Do not pack it on the pan. Bake, stirring occasionally with a spatula, until the mixture turns an even golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes.
Remove the granola from the oven, and add the raisins immediately. Stir to incorporate. If you like a bit more sweetness to your granola, stir in a sprinkle of brown sugar after it has cooled.
Store the cooled granola in an airtight container. If you're giving it as a gift, pour into a festive tin and place a bow ontop. Perfect present, and no wrapping!

This can be eaten alone as a snack or with milk for breakfast. It's healthy and very filling.

*Note: I used Sunmaid’s raisin and craisin mixture. It has red raisins, golden raisins and dried cranberries, and adds wonderful favor to the granola.