Fall and winter always seem to be the “baking” seasons. Perhaps because the weather is actually cool enough to stand the oven being on in the house (oven at 400*F + 100+*F summer weather = HEAT STROKE at home). Perhaps it’s the overwhelming desire to give homemade baked goods as gifts rather than store-bought. Whatever the reasons may be, I have developed a HUGE desire to bake. More so than usual, because usually I just ignore it and continue working out. This time… I HAD TO SUCCUMB!!!
I decided on Thomas Keller‘s Chocolate Chip Cookies from the Ad Hoc At Home Cookbook. I figured what better way to kick off “baking” season than with the basic chocolate chip cookie. It’s a crowd pleaser and it’s a good recipe to have in your arsenal. I’m not going to re-print the recipe, but you can find it here.
The Ingredients - Thomas Keller Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Ad Hoc at home)
I was heading over to Michele’s for the new FRIDAY NIGHT DINNERS!!! (second installment) and brought much of the ingredients (ok… ALL) and equipment (stand mixer, rubber spatula, cookie scoop, parchment paper) over there since I knew she didn’t have any of this stuff. Plus, had to bring the cookbook… and myself. I would have brought the hand mixer (smaller and more portable and not heavy) but my sister put it SOMEWHERE (i.e. not a logical place) where it was impossible to find.. so I had to carry over the stand mixer. If I really wanted to go OLD SCHOOL (like pre-electricity old school), we could have mixed it all by hand… but I wasn’t ready for that exercise.
Supplies and equipment packed up to head to Michele's
Soon to become part of some DELICIOUS cookies
The cookie dough is simple enough to put together. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Cream together butter and sugar. Mix in eggs to butter/sugar mixture. Mix in flour. Mix in chocolate. The dough looks heavy on the chocolate chips, but it ended up being the perfect ratio of chocolate to cookie.
Almost wanted to make little balls to freeze for ICECREAM... next time...
I used a 1 1/2″ scoop to make the balls, but I used MOUNDING scoops. The original recipe says it would make 30 cookies… I ended up with 23 (just shy of 2 dozen). I think next time I’l use flattened scoops for more cookies at a smaller size, though these turned out pretty good.
Scooped, placed, and ready to BAKE!
Popped these suckers in the oven for 12 minutes (rotated pans halfway through), and they came out PERFECT and smelled DELICIOUS. I almost wanted to eat one right away, but knew that I’d probably burn ALL the tastebuds in my mouth (and then wouldn’t be able to enjoy anything later).
Chocolate chip cookies.. straight from the oven..
We let them cool on top of the stove for a few minutes before transferring them to our makeshift “cooling rack”…. which ended up being the plastic lid that came with the new cookie sheets she had. Perhaps not the best way to “cool” the cookies since the air isn’t really circulating all around, but it was all we had.
"Cooling" on not a rack.. because we didn't have one on hand..
In the end, the cookies turned out pretty much PERFECT-O! They were soft and gooey in the middle, but had a good crispness on the outside. The cookies were still slightly warm when we ate them, so the chocolate was still all melty…. mmm…
I left some with Michele (only four… she seriously said, “If you leave more, I’ll become diabetic.”.. hahaha) and took the rest home to share with Minh and my family. They were still good in the morning too… still soft and chewy.
A good dozen... saved for later...
The recipe was so simple, I’ll definitely be making these again. I really want to try out chocolate chip cookie brownie bars… wherein you make a brownie mix, but also drop in chocolate chip cookie dough into the pan and bake it all together. Can you even imagine how delicious that would be using Thomas Keller’s recipes???
Think Tran 