Never Enough Chocolate

I’ve been kind of going cookie crazy lately trying out a few new recipes here and there. There is something comforting about chocolate chip cookies. It’s almost like going back to the basics of baking. Every baker should have some sort of chocolate chip cookie recipe on hand. Can you imagine a baker without a slick recipe for this stuff around? I’ve got boxes and boxes of recipes around. Loose, grubby, hard-to-read recipes on newspaper clippings and 3 x 5 cards lurk the basement back-room, the bedroom dressers; some even peek out under the bed. I would be glad to celebrate each evening baking a new treat from a new recipe I found in the house stash, but I am kind of hesitant on some of them. Many are from great aunt’s and long past relatives I don’t know and others are given from church-goers I don’t reckon of. All sound certainly delish, but something pulls me back, my conscious nags at my shoulder saying there is a better option for tonight’s sugar dish. So what would that be? What could possibly be better than Sharon Locey’s rhubarb bars or Grandma’s peanut brittle? Well, the same chocolate chip cookie recipe that I have made countless times for several years jumps into my mind as THE very dessert to make. I hate to say that nothing else has out shined this tender little treat.

A few years ago, my sister Laura claimed her Cookie Dough fame and told me that she had created her own recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I thought to myself, heck, how would YOU make up your own cookie dough concoction? She assured me she did everything right, and she made the best cookie recipe I would ever lay my senses upon. I don’t know why I would have trusted her for she was not an avid baker, but I decided to give it a go. I hate to say it, but she was right. Whether she came up with the recipe herself or not, it sure is good. To this day, I have this recipe scribbled down on a little note sheet of paper in Laura’s handwriting. This is by far the most used cookie recipe in the Schouweiler household. Unlike some things in life, it never seemed to let us down. These cookies are so tender and delicate, lending a smooth and creamy chocolaty taste. I could take a chocolate bath with the amount of brown bite-fulls that are in these cookies. They are baked to perfection; just underdone in the center with a nice caramelized rim.


Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips ( Good quality preferably)
2 sticks butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Stir with a whisk until well mixed. Set aside. (Helpful hint: Stir the flour, baking soda, and salt mixture well to ensure that the baking soda is distributed evenly. Baking soda distributed evenly ensures that your cookies rise and expand the same.)

In a stand mixer combine the butter and sugars. Using the paddle, mix until the mixture is smooth and fluffy (four to five minutes). Add 1 egg at a time and mix to incorporate. Add the vanilla and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix a few seconds longer. Gently mix dry ingredients into the batter being sure not to over mix. Fold in chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and put in refrigerator for 1-2 hours. You can even make these several days ahead and chill the batter.
When ready, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll dough with your hands into balls. (About 2 tablespoons each)
Bake cookies for about 12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and slightly soft and “undercooked” in the center. Remove pan from oven. The centers will continue to cook even when out of the oven. Let cool for a few minutes and transfer to a cookie sheet or paper bag that has been cut flat.

Cookie craziness has put me in the position to try yet another cookie recipe. I’m not making large amount of sweets here to share with the neighbors or take to a pot-luck, but they do go mighty fast with two boys around the house. This is all the more reason to make another batch. These cookies, here me, aren’t trying to replace Laura’s, but they are a bit different, and they are sure good to have around. These are oatmeal cookies-slightly different in taste and a 9 yard run in texture. I was a bit confused when I read the recipe because I have never encountered a mix of flour and sugar before adding the butter? I was crossed at the idea of deviating away of my go-to cookie. My mom assured me these are very unique-flat oatmeal cakelets that are crispy on the outside but smooth and soft on the inside. It’s all that a Chips Ahoy wishes to be. So I took her word and these cookies came into kitchen light.

Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside . These sure are delish—so scrumptious, they were gone in one day. I think I’ll keep these guys around.


Oatmeal Cookies

1 C. Flour
½ C. Sugar + additional sugar for rolling
½ C. brown sugar
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup butter
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla
¾ cup oats
¼ c. walnuts or ½ cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Whisk together first 6 ingredients. With a stand mixer, mix in butter, egg, and vanilla until incorporated. Form batter into small balls and roll in sugar.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are brown and centers are soft.

Note: I was told to use quick oats with this recipe and they turned out great. Although, when I make them again I want to use rolled oats to see the difference. Just a bit of an experiment that’s all. Also, I used chocolate chips because my family can never get enough chocolate.