TWD : The Tart Is Too Picky And Made Cookies Instead

There’s no getting around it, I wussed out this week. Ain’t really a picky eater, but there are some combinations that make my taste buds start threatening guerrilla warfare and screaming cliche revolution slogans. Nobody wants that. Add to that a budget that was giving me dirty looks at the mere mention of buying ingredients we don’t usually use, and it wasn’t happening this week.

Dorie has got me addicted to her though, and I needed to bake something by her! A quick chat with Laurie (ok, so none of my chats are ever quick) and Chocolate Chip Cookies were on the table! Y’all, let me be the first to say that I’m stubborn when it comes to recipes I love. The chocolate chip cookie recipe I’e used for years was my fav and nothing could compete… Oh Dorie, how you’ve humbled me!

They’re everything a chocolate chip cookie should be. A little crunchy, a little chewy and soft. Buttery and easy to work with, they didn’t spread too much on the pan and they turned the right colour. Easy means easy, I made the dough before the oven could even preheat while fighting a fever and playing a video game with D! They weren’t greasy in the slightest, they formed into little scoops and snuggled on to the parchment paper with a cheerfullness you don’t usually find in a baked good.

Ain’t it sad that I couldn’t get through taking a pic without biting one?

Y’all should follow the recipe to be sure, but let me tell you how easy these handled. The things I didn’t do were : Mix the dry ingrediants together first, beat for 1 minute between eggs, add the dry ingrediants together in thirds, cool the sheet between batches, rotate the baking sheets midway, bake them to brown (they were golden on the edges and paler in the middle because I prefer them softer), or let them get to room temperature before eating one. To be honest, I dumped the eggs in all at once and did the same with the dry ingrediants. The cookies were very happy to be treated so callously. They like it rough cutie.

“My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies”

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c. sugar
2/3 c. (packed) light brown sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 2 c. store-bought chocolate chips or chunks (I used dark chocolate chips)
1 c. finely chopped walnuts or pecans (I didn’t use them)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for about 1 minute, until smooth. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes or so, until well blended. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each eggs oes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingrediants in 3 portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated. On low speed, or by hand with a rubber spatula, mix in the chocolate and the nuts. (The dough can be covered and refridgerated for up to 3 days or frozen. If you’d like, you can freeze rounded tablespoons of cough, ready for baking. Freeze the mounds on a lined baking sheet, then bag them when theyre solid. There’s no need to defrost the dough before baking - just add another minute or two to the baking time.)

Spoon the dough by slightly rounded tablespoonfulls onto the baking sheets leaving about two inches between spoonfulls.

Bake the cookies - one sheet at a time and rotating the sheet at the midway point - for 10 - 12 minutes or until they are brown at the edges and golden in the center; they may still be a little soft in the middle and that’s just fine. Pull the sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for 1 minute then carefully, usuaing a wide metal spatula, transfer them to racks to cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remainder of the dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.