Sunday, December 8, 2013

Not Just Any Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hi everyone! I hope you had an awesome weekend :). As a part of my blog, I want to share with you some of my favorite "basic" recipes. These are the recipes that everyone needs to have. Sugar cookies, brownies, vanilla/chocolate cake, frosting, aaaaaand (drumrollllllll) chocolate chip cookies!


However, I would not exactly call these cookies "basic". As much as I love chocolate chip cookies, they have to be right in order for me to eat them. I am extremely picky-choosey about the chocolate chip cookies that I eat; they have to be soft, chewy, flavorful, and homemade. Homemade cookies are so much more special than the store-bought variety. For one thing, you don't always get them. You can buy store bought cookies any day, but homemade only come once and a while; they are exclusive! And, you can eat them hot out of the oven! Which is the best ;) 


These particular cookies are moist, thick, and oh so soft! Hard cookies are NOT ALLOWED in my kitchen. Unless they are my mom's amazing biscotti, of course. I promise, these cookies will definitely be a staple recipe once you give them a try. They get their awesomeness from these components: shortening, brown sugar, an extra egg yolk, cornstarch, and chilling. I know, I know, you may be shaking your head at the fact that there is shortening in this recipe. You're probably thinking that these cookies lose flavor because there is less butter. But, my friends, they don't! See, I use half butter and half shortening in my chocolate chip cookies. You get all the butter flavor, but none of the spread that makes cookies crisp and flat. Using shortening reduces their spread in the oven, therefore, making thicker and puffier cookies. This recipe calls for more brown sugar than white sugar. Brown sugar provides flavor and moistness because it contains molasses, rather than white sugar which does not. In addition to a whole egg, you will need an extra egg yolk.  Adding an egg yolk adds moisture and richness without making the cookies "cake-y". Now, here is the ingredient that you may not always see in chocolate chip cookie recipes: cornstarch. There is only a little bit of it in the cookie dough, but boy does it make a big difference! I would't make my chocolate chip cookies without them, and I bet you won't either once you try these! Cornstarch keeps your cookies soft and thick, not flat and crunchy. The last thing that allows these chocolate chip cookies to be so wonderful is chilling the dough. We all like to chill-ax sometimes, don't we? Well, it turns out that your cookie dough does too! I personally like to chill my dough overnight, but an hour and a half will be sufficient enough. Chilling the dough, along with corn starch and shortening, produces thick cookies. The colder the dough is, the less the cookies will spread. Even though the cookies have to chill for awhile, the only bake for 8 minutes! 9 at the max. They will look very under baked. However, they won't be! Once you remove them from the oven, you let them sit on the cookie sheet for 3 minutes. The cookies will continue to bake during this time, allowing your cookies to be soft but not raw(even though I have no problem with eating raw cookie dough ;)). Keep in mind that even though these cookies are anything but "basic", the dough itself makes for a great blank canvas! You can add so many different things to this wonderful dough: nuts, white chocolate chips, raisins, chopped candy bars, M&M's, anything your cookie-craving heart desires! 


Now, go buy some chocolate chips and get baking! Everyone needs a good old chocolate chip cookie once and a while :)

Enjoy! 

Love,
Teresa 

Ingredients
3/4 cup light brown sugar 
1/4 cup granulated sugar 
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 
1 egg and 1 egg yolk, room temperature 
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened 
1/3 cup shortening(Crisco), softened 
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour 
2 tsp. cornstarch 
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder 
1 cup + 3 tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips 

Yields: 22-24 cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicon baking mat or parchment paper. 

Cream butter, shortening, and both sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until completely combined. Stir in the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. 

Chill the dough for at least an hour and a half. 

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto the lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-9 minutes until the bottom edges of the cookies are golden. Remove them from the oven and allow them to rest on the baking sheet for 3 minutes. Remove the cookies from the baking sheet and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack. Store the cookies in an air-tight container to keep them soft. 

Recipe Adapted From: Betty Crocker's Baking Classics  
*Please do not take this recipe or photos from my blog and use them as your own. If you do wish to post my recipe on your blog, please ask for permission by emailing me. Thank you. 





2 comments:

  1. I can never get enough chocolate chip cookies in my life, especially around the holidays. These look wonderful Teresa!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Sally! I can't either; sometimes the simplest things are just the best! I really appreciate your feedback!

      Delete