February 07, 2012

Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Chocolate Chip Cookie is one of the most iconic baked goods of all time, simple yet rich and deliciously flavored, people have been enjoying this wonderful treat since Ruth Wakefield first discovered the amazing combination of broken chocolate bars and cookie dough in 1924. The recipe below however is not the original which is still printed on the back of all Nestle Chocolate Chip Bags, this one is a favorite of mine from the "Joy of Cooking".

Ingredients: 1 Cup plus 2 Tbls. All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 Stick Butter (softened)
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla

In a large bowl, cream together the Butter

Sugar

And Brown Sugar until thoroughly mixed

Beat in the Egg

Salt

And Vanilla incorporating well

In a separate bowl, combine the Flour and Soda

Then sift together

Add the dry ingredients in small amounts, mixing until smooth

Stir in the Chocolate Chips with a rubber spatula so they don't get broken up by the mixer

Drop by the spoonfuls two inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 F eight to ten minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pan to finish cooking all the way through, or remove them right away for a gooey centered cookie.

Instead of using packed brown sugar, i went with a loose, coarse brown sugar which gave these cookies a nice crispness on the outer layer, but a chewy soft center. I also doubled the recipe for more yield and should have added in a extra 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, but none the less they were still delicious.