The Worst Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes you just need a good cookie.  

Whether you go crazy over chocolate drop cookies, 

like my husband does, or are more of a chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookie guy or gal 

(which my dad claims are clearly a breakfast food) there is just something about a cookie that hits the spot.  Nine times out of ten, I prefer a plain old chocolate chip cookie.

I have been making Nestle chocolate chip cookies out of a tub of dough for a while now, and it was time to get back to some homemade chocolate chip goodness.  Then while I was over at Sugar Spun Run oogling her cheesecake recipe, I stumbled upon The WORST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe.  I had to try it.

I got my son to join me in the kitchen for this one, and we whipped up a batch of these.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Imperial margarine melted and then cooled until no longer warm to the touch
• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar firmly packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3 1/4 cups (415 grams) all purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons additional flour (to sub in for the 2 teaspoons cornstarch, since we didn't have it)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (reduced from original recipe, which called for unsalted butter)
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (half regular sized, and half mini)

We started out by stirring together the melted margarine and sugars.  

My son kept stirring as I added the eggs, one at a time.  We stirred in the vanilla extract and the maple syrup.  Ours was a bit runny, and we were not sure if the cookies might end up flat because of it.  More on that, later. We mixed the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and added them slowly into our wet ingredients to make the dough. Finally we stirred in our chocolate chips. We covered the bowl, put it in the fridge for at least half an hour, and then scooped the dough out to bake.  They went into the oven, at 350F for 13 minutes and were allowed to cool on the cookie sheet afterward.

The resulting cookies were a little flat.  I forgot to take a picture. They weren't very photogenic, to be honest. But my, were they tasty! Crispy on the edges, and with a lovely flavor.

The next day, I baked up some more of the dough, and tried putting the dough 

into muffin tins

like so

to prevent them from spreading too much.

The texture on the cookie-pucks that resulted was not amazing. The middles barely got cooked. And I like cookies a little dough-y, so from me, that's saying something.

The next day, I baked up yet another tray of them. And, oh my! They were perfect. Was it the extra time in the fridge that helped them set up better? I am not sure. More experimentation will definitely be in order. But this recipe is a keeper!

What are your favorite cookies?

Chocolate Drop Cookies

Two days ago, I found my recipe book on the counter opened to Chocolate Drop Cookies. These cookies are my husband's absolute favorite. He says they are "texturally superior" to most all other cookies. So go preheat your oven to 350* and let's get started, shall we?

Mix together 1/2 cup of butter and 1 cup brown sugar:


(See the goo on the edge? I accidentally put the egg in there before mixing these together, and decided to remove it and do it right.)

Add the egg (or re-add the egg, in my case)

and beat well.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour and 1/4 teaspoon each salt, baking soda & baking powder.

Here is something that makes this recipe extremely unusual for me. It uses milk.

But not just milk...

Curdled milk.

To prepare your own 1/2 cup of sour milk (come on, you know you want to!) add 2 Tablespoons of vinegar and stir. Yummy!

Incidentally, when my husband first found out the secret ingredient in his favorite cookies (walking into the kitchen once while his mom was making them) he was completely grossed out and wouldn't eat them for like, a year.

He has since gotten over it. ;) Alternately add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and then 1/3 of the sour milk to the bowl w/ sugar/butter/eggs (you know the drill) and mix well.

Next add 6 Tablespoons of cocoa powder to the bowl.

And blend.

What you have will resemble chocolate pudding.

Drop spoonful sized onto baking sheet (please note: if you use a cookie sheet the cookies will be too thin)

and put them into your preheated oven.

Bake them for 10 - 12 minutes.

When they are done they will probably look a little flat to you.

Do not despair! I am told they are DELICIOUS.

Go ahead and have one or two warm from the oven. But the recipe is not finished yet...

For best texture... after the cookies have cooled, place them on a plate covered with Saran Wrap over night.

Enjoy!

Starting off the New Year Right

Hello everyone in Bloggerland! At my friend Jaynie's urging, I am here to write a new post. (But it will have to be quick because I need to leave for work in a few minutes!)

Here is a picture of my favorite cookie I made over the holidays:
It is a huge sugar cookie with left-over pecan rocha strussle on top. Yum! Bryan convinced me to make the cookie so large because I was despairing of ever being done rolling and baking all that dough. Note to self: next year, do a half-batch of sugar cookies!

And here is my puppy dog, celebrating the new year:

I hope you are all having a good start to your new year. I have been keeping my sink shiny, and reading a lot more (both in the Bible and other books). Ooh... and I have been playing my piano. So I have been keeping myself busy and doing things that I enjoy.

This past weekend I baked my first loaf of bread for the cold season (I can't believe I've waited this long!) and I have some more dough in the fridge, so I will be baking more soon. I will try to snap a few pictures and post them here.

Until then... happy baking!

So you want to... Eat Christmas Cookies?

You will need a great recipe. Luckily for you, I have found a veritable trove of edible treasures at Food Blogga, where Susan is compiling a list of links to delicious Christmas cookie recipes. She is calling her event

Even if you don't think you have time to bake this season, you should stop by and take a look at the list with all the scrumptious looking photos. Maybe you'll be inspired.

Have a great recipe your dying to share? Go here to learn how to participate in this event and submit your recipe for all of us to enjoy.

Thanks to Michelle at Scribbit for her post that pointed me to this tasty holiday collection.

Snackie Bento

Bento #27 is comprised of mostly cookies! :0) Fig Newtons, and Thin Mint/Tagalong pretenders. Very tasty. Also, there is a sliced apple, some trail mix, crackers and almonds:

Snack Bento

Bento #23 is a snack for Bryan and I. We will be moving in the set and getting things ready for the show... then we have dry tech, wet tech, and possibly a run-through. All that to say, it is going to be a long day, and we are going to want a few extra calories on hand.

Here's a picture of the bottom layer:


It features my mom-in-law's delicious, homemade sugar cookies (Thanks again, Leslie!) surrounded by Wheatables, Triskets, dried apple "o"s and his and her trail mix.

Here's the finished bento, closed up and ready to go:



To the other snacks I've added two Clif Z Bars and a couple tomatoes.

Greek Cuisine

For these bentos, I really went overboard cooking three items from scratch for it. But it was all in the name of the theme: Greek Cuisine!

In the larger container I placed homemade hummus, home-grown sprouts, browned tortilla strips, tomatoes, grapes, and itsy bitsy Nestle chocolate chip cookies baked from scratch. (Okay, I know that these cookies aren't Greek, but I can't exactly eat baklava as it has butter in it, right?)

The smaller of the two containers I put homemade mujaddara, decorated with tomato slices and steamed broccoli.

I also packed up a box for my co-workers who have been drooling over my new and improved (tasty!) lunches. It contains the same ingredients, with the addition of an olive.