#16 - Chocolate Chip Cookies

So... it's been awhile since I last posted.  Way back in late April or maybe early May of 2011 I made chocolate chip cookies for one of my last days at my old job.  I can't believe that was a year ago.  That was the last new recipe I tried in 2011.  Yikes.  Anyway... I'm 99% sure the recipe I used is the one below (from MarthaStewart.com - Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies), but no promises since it was a long time ago :)  They were crazy delicious, but the crumbliest cookies ever.  Definitely not soft and chewy.  I don't know how to fix that, but I would still make these again even if I had to eat the pieces with a spoon out of a bowl.  As someone pointed out last year, that would be the perfect way to eat them.  Just so long as the bowl was full of ice cream.

Ingredients:
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda.  Set aside.  In a separate bowl combine the butter with both sugars.  Beat until light and fluffy.  (The directions say to use an electric mixer set on medium speed, but I just did it by hand.  For the next step it says to reduce the speed to low and beat until well mixed, about 1 minute, but again, I just did it by hand.)  Add the salt, vanilla, and eggs.  Beat until well mixed.  Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.  Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Makes 3 dozen (supposedly... I have no idea how many I made, but maybe they were a little too big and that was what was wrong with the consistency?  I remember them spreading and flattening a ton while baking.)

New ingredients: Nothing
New skills: Nothing

#7 - Spritz Cookies

I was going to make heart-shaped cookies for Valentine's Day, but I didn't have almond extract, so I postponed by a day and made them for February 15th instead.  The real reason I wanted to make these cookies was so that I could finally try out my cookie press that I bought more than a year ago.  It worked pretty well, but it's messy and kind of a lot of work.  I tried the heart shape, the Christmas tree, and a 5-petaled wreath/flower shape.  I used the recipe for classic spritz cookies that came with the cookie press.  They're not the best tasting cookies in the world, but they're ok and they were all eaten pretty quickly at work.  They're more decorative than delicious really, so when I make them again it might just be to mix in with other cookies as a gift during the holidays.  Next time, once I press out the dough, but before baking, I can try adding sprinkles.  Maybe I'll see if I can find a better recipe, because the shapes really are pretty fun, and it would be worth the extra effort if they tasted better.  #7 - done!

Classic Spritz Cookies
1 and 1/2 cups butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
* Thoroughly cream butter and sugar.  Add egg, milk, vanilla, and almond extract.  Beat well.  Stir together flour and baking powder.  Gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing to make a smooth dough.  Don't chill!  Put dough into cookie press and press onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8-9 minutes at 375 degrees.  Remove from sheet and cool on a rack.

New ingredient: almond extract
New skill: using my cookie press!

#5 - Ginger Sugar Cookies

Today I decided to finally try a cookie recipe from "The Gourmet Cookie Book".  Ever since I came across this book at work I've been so excited to try out all the recipes in it.  It features "the single best recipe from each year 1941-2009" as originally published in Gourmet Magazine.  When making my resolutions for the year I was tempted to resolve to make one recipe from this book each week, but then I realized it was a really bad idea to make cookies every single week.  Even if I gave them away and brought them to work, I'd still gain a million pounds.  So instead I decided to just try one new recipe of any sort each week, knowing that now and then I'd try a new cookie recipe.  These came out really well.  They feel like Christmas.  And I learned something new!  If you sprinkle 2 or 3 drops of water on the cookies right before you bake them (as the recipe says you should) they get that perfect crackled look on top.  I'll have to try that next time I make snickerdoodles.  I couldn't tell if more or less water led to more crackling... oh well, some water made some crackles and they looked nice and were delicious.  They remind me of the molasses cookies I ate when I was a kid, but with a little bit more of a ginger kick.  The recipe says it makes 11 dozen, but that can't possibly be right.  I think mine were bigger than they were supposed to be and I made 5 dozen.  Recipe #5, another cookie success!

Ingredients:
3/4 cups butter or shortening, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses (mild, not robust)
2 and 1/4 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
sugar
water

Instructions:
Cream butter and then gradually beat in dark brown sugar.  Stir in egg and molasses and blend thoroughly.  Sift flour and combine with baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt.  Gradually blend dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.  Chill dough, covered, for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Roll heaping teaspoonfuls of dough into 1-inch balls.  Dip the tops in sugar and place 3 inches apart on a greased baking sheet.  Sprinkle each cookie with 2 or 3 drops of water (this gives the cookies a distinctive crackled look).  Bake for 7-8 minutes.  If you take them out early, when they've just set, they'll be soft and slightly chewy.  Leave them in a little longer and they'll get crisp.

Makes about 5 dozen.

New skills: dropping water on cookies
New ingredients: molasses, cloves

#3 - Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Decided to make cookies for a friend's birthday, so I found a recipe that had 4.5 stars on allrecipes.com and they were aaaaaaamazing.  Easy, quick, delicious.  What more can you ask for in a cookie recipe?  I barely changed this one.  Cooking is an art, baking is a science, right?  Recipe #3, check!

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened (I used 1/2 cup salted, 1/2 cup unsalted)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick-cooking oats ***I had looked at a recipe that called for regular rolled oats and bought those, but then used this recipe, so I decided to use up the last 1.5 cups of quick oats in my cupboard and then use 1.5 cups of regular oats.  I think I'd do it the same next time because the texture of these cookies was completely perfect.***
1 and 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  In a large bowl cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.  Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Stir into the creamed mixture until just blended.  Mix in the oats and chocolate chips.  Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 3-4 dozen.  Keep well for at least a few days... if they're not all eaten within the first 24 hours.

New skills: nothing
New ingredients: nothing