Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these last night for the first time and I'm in love. That's really saying something because I have tried literally dozens and dozens and dozens of chocolate chip cookie recipes. A little known fact about me: I eat at least one chocolate chip cookie EVERY DAY. This personal tradition has been going strong for at least five years. So when I say this is a good chocolate chip cookie recipe, you should probably trust me.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

From The New Best Recipe (America’s Test Kitchen from Cooks Illustrated)

Makes about 18-24 large cookies.

These oversized cookies are chewy and thick, like many of the chocolate chip cookies sold in gourmet shops and cookie stores. They rely on melted butter and an extra egg yolk to keep their texture soft. These cookies are best served warm from the oven but will retain their texture even when cooled. To ensure the proper texture, cool the cookies on the baking sheet. Oversized baking sheets allow you to get all the dough into the oven at one time. If you’re using smaller baking sheets, put fewer cookies on each sheet and bake them in batches.

Ingredients

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (10 5/8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks, or 6 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm

1 cup packed (7 ounces) light- or dark-brown sugar

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 – 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray or use a non-stick silicon mat, e.g., Silpat.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low-speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.

4. Roll a golf-ball size of the dough into a ball (or use a two-tablespoon ice cream scoop), for standard-sized cookies, or use a scant 1/4 cup amount of dough for larger cookies. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough’s uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.

5. Bake until the cookies are light golden grown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy (and look a little bit wet in the middle), 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a spatula.

Aebleskivers

Recipe from here

Aebleskivers

Ingredients

• 2 egg whites
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 egg yolks
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1. In a clean glass or metal bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until they can hold a stiff peak. Set aside.
2. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, sugar, egg yolks, melted butter and buttermilk at one time and beat until smooth. Gently fold in the egg whites last.
3. Put about 1tablespoon of vegetable oil in the bottom of each aebleskiver pan cup and heat until hot. Pour in about 2 tablespoons of the batter into each cup. As soon as they get bubbly around the edge, turn them quickly (Danish cooks use a long knitting needle, but a fork will work). Continue cooking, turning the ball to keep it from burning.

Amount Per Serving Calories: 63 | Total Fat: 2.8g | Cholesterol: 18mg

From the pan.

Filled with peach preserves and topped with powdered sugar.

Cheddar & Potato Soup

I'll be making this tonight for the second time this week. Found it in my favorite print magazine Mary Jane's Farm. I like it because it is super simple, inexpensive and is still ridiculously tasty.

Cheddar & Potato Soup

Saute 1 diced onion in 4 T butter. Add 1/4 cup flour, 1 t dry mustard, and 1/2 t cayenne; stir for 3 minutes. Add 4 cups chicken broth, 1-1/2 cups diced carrots, and 1-1/2 cups diced potatoes; bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add 2 cups half-and-half (I use heavy whipping cream because I don't usually have half-and-half around) and 3 cups grated cheddar cheese (I used just over 1 cup and that was plenty); cook for 5 minutes. Add salt to taste. Serves 6.

Chocolate Mint Candies Cookies

These cookies are naughty. Very naughty. But very, very good. I used Grasshopper cookies instead of thin mints. Recipe taken from here.

Chocolate Mint Candies Cookies

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 (4.5 ounce) packages chocolate covered thin mints

Directions

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the sugar, butter and water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat, stir in the chocolate chips until melted and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
2. Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl, and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the chocolate mixture. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll cookie dough into walnut sized balls and place 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, be careful not to overbake. When cookies come out of the oven, Press one mint wafer into the top of each cookie and let sit for 1 minute. When the mint is softened, swirl with the back of a spoon or toothpick to make a pattern with the green filling of the mint wafer. For smaller cookies, break mints in half.

Amount Per Serving Calories: 162 | Total Fat: 7.4g | Cholesterol: 20mg