Who doesn’t love making cookies? With two young boys at home, I find myself making them pretty often. They like to help out and appreciate eating the cookies even more when they are a part of the process.
Yesterday, while enjoying our most recent batch, they asked me why the cookies we make are so much better than other cookies they have tasted that are homemade. Of course, I told them that it was the care, attention and love that goes into our cookies. I explained to them that when you really love doing something, you tend to do it very well. They agreed, and we finished the entire batch.
I take steps when I follow this very simple and common recipe that I believe give the cookies just a slight edge over their competitors. Here are the steps I take to make an oustanding Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. You can adapt the technique to most similar cookie dough recipes that use the creaming method, where we cream the fat and sugar together in the first step.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
½ tablespoon coffee liquor, or other cordial or extract of your choice
2 large eggs
1 cup semi sweet or milk chocolate chunks
1 cup peanut butter morsels
Measure the flour, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl and blend together with a whisk.
Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until light in color and fluffy.
*This is one of the steps I believe often gets overlooked. I beat the sugar and butter until it is really fluffy and very light in color. To do this properly, you will need to stop the mixer several times during the mixing process and use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl to properly combine all ingredients. It will take several minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time. Beat after each addition until the mix is light and fluffy, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each egg addition.
*This is another important step. Make sure to beat the eggs for about a minute each to really get them well combined and a little fluffy.
Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and use a small teaspoon or butter knife to scrape all the seeds into the sugar/butter mixture. You can substitute vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, approximately ½ tablespoon.
*I like to save the hull of the vanilla bean to place in a sugar canister and make vanilla sugar.
Pour in the coffee liquor and mix for a moment to combine.
Transfer the butter/sugar mixture to the large bowl with the flour mixture and gently mix by hand with a spatula until just combined.
Add chocolate chunks and peanut butter morsels. Stir to just combine.
Using a 1 ounce scoop, portion the dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil, keeping them about 3 inches apart.
Bake at 350F in a conventional oven (no fan) for approximately 9 minutes until the tops just start to brown.
Remove from oven. Using a spatula, remove the cookies to a rack to cool and see how long they last!
We have a really fantastic selection of baking items available at both locations of The Chopping Block, including decadent chocolate chips, vanilla bean paste and professional grade bakeware.We also have several classes that focus on baking, such as Baking Boot Camp, Cupcake Boot Camp, Donut Boot Camp and Pies, Tarts and Crostatas, that could give you the edge you need to refine your pastries to the next level!
