You know how sometimes you test a cake recipe a few too many times because you’re a perfectionist and then you’ve got approximately one million egg yolks in your fridge with no purpose?
*crickets*
Well, here is something to do with them: “I Got Yolks” Chocolate Chip Cookies!
*more crickets* + *excitement for cookies*
Anyway…this is a recipe born of necessity. Namely, the necessity to not waste good ingredients. Also, the necessity for something that can be eaten immediately or frozen for later or left on your friends’ front steps for a socially distanced surprise. Trust me, they’ll be beyond thrilled with a bag of these.
“I Got Yolks” Chocolate Chip Cookies are, in a word, spectacular. They’re super rich and chewy from three large egg yolks, melted butter, and brown sugar, and incredibly tender thanks to the addition of confectioners sugar. I threw the confectioner’s sugar in the first batch on a whim just to see what would happen and, well, it won’t be the last time. The sweetness, structure and texture it provides are really something—like the cornstarch I put in my other cookies, but better.
The cookie dough comes together the same way most chocolate chip cookie doughs do—mix together wet and dry ingredients separately, combine them, and fold in some chocolate chips. Give the dough a chill, then roll it into balls and bake until they’re puffed and golden. They’ll get those gorgeous rumples and cracks as they cool–perfect resting spots for granules of coarse salt.
Coarse salt + Chocolate Chip Cookies = best friends forever ❤ 
These are not only my current favorite way to use up egg yolks, but also my current favorite chocolate chip cookies. They are nice and thick, with crisp exteriors, soft centers, a rich caramel flavor and the perfect amount of chocolate chips. The confectioner’s sugar in the dough gives them an extra-smooth quality and has the added benefit of keeping them soft for days. That’s saying something—I’m a total diva about day-old cookies.
One more great thing about this recipe is that you can age the dough. I suppose you can age any cookie dough, actually, but I rarely have the fridge space. If you’ve never tried it, aging is as simple as keeping the dough in the fridge for up to a week before rolling and baking. By letting it sit for an extended period, you’re allowing the flavors to deepen in a really wonderful way. The exteriors get a light sheen after baking and the brown sugar flavor really sings. Try it. You’ll like it.
“I Got Yolks” Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes about 2.5 dozen cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
coarse salt or other finishing salt, for garnish (optional)
In a small-medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together butter, brown sugar and confectioner’s sugar until completely combined. Mix in egg yolks, followed by vanilla. Add dry ingredients in two installments, mixing to combine. Use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to fold in chocolate chips.
Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or up to a week.
When you’re ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, or until hard but still scoopable.
Arrange oven racks in central positions (I do second from top and second from bottom), Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop dough in 2 tablespoon increments, roll into balls, and place them 3 inches apart on prepared pans. Bake 6 minutes, then rotate the pans top-to-bottom and front-to-back. Bake 5-6 more minutes, until golden and puffed. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Let cool 7-8 minutes on the pans, then use a spatula to remove the cookies to a rack to cool completely. Bring baking sheets back to room temperature before repeating rolling and baking processes with remaining dough.
Cookies will keep well covered at room temperature for 3-4 days.
Baked cookies may be wrapped tightly and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw before enjoying.
When I posted 
These cookies are on the sweeter side (confectioner’s sugar provides a lot of the structure), so I added a teaspoon of granulated espresso to the recipe to keep them from being cloying with ice cream. I also cut the size of the cookies in half for a dozen medium cookies instead of six large ones.
Next up, you’ll need to freeze the cookies for about 30 minutes. This helps the ice cream to stay on the solid side and the cookies from getting too soft during assembly. This step is not strictly necessary, but it is good insurance against ice cream sandwich frustration.
Regarding ice cream, use whatever flavor you want. I went with a mid-level nationwide brand’s vanilla here and it was fine—good, even—but I will go higher quality next time. Oh, and I’ll probably go with mint chocolate chip because it’s my favorite. The point is to use what you love and not settle for less. Cookies are an important part of ice cream sandwiches, but ice cream is the *most* important part.
Freeze the sandwiches before rolling them in your sprinkles of choice or chopped nuts or mini chocolate chips or candy bar pieces or crushed Oreos. Again, use what you love and don’t settle for less. <—good life advice? 
The last step is to freeze your ice cream sandwiches again for several hours or up to a day before digging in. Yes, you can eat them right after assembly, but the ice cream squidges out the sides and then you’re just eating two cookies with a translucent smear of ice cream and a weird smattering of sprinkles and then licking ice cream off a salad plate like a wild animal.
Anyway, freezing the completed ice cream sandwiches for a few hours allows the ice cream to adhere to the cookies so that the sandwiches become single entities. That’s something I really care about with my ice cream sandwiches. Considering how much I loathe the patriarchy, I sure do love to be able to eat things in a ladylike manner.
I assure you, they’re worth the lengthy freezer time. The cookies never fully freeze, instead softening a tiny bit and getting extra chewy. And then there’s the ice cream and crunchy sprinkles. Like I said, perfect.
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There was a package of storebought Pecan Sandies in our pantry for my entire childhood, but I never cared for them. In fact, the kindest thing I can think to say about them is that they were inoffensive. These shortbread were too hard, flavorless at best, and seriously lacking in pecans for something with the word “pecan” in their name…but they’d do if there were no other desserts available.
I remember going into the pantry to grab a snack and eyeing that package of cookies—who in their right mind would buy those over and over again?!
My dad’s a great guy. He’s sweet, he’s smart. He looks great in a hat. He took us to a gazillion baseball games, danced with me in six of my dance recitals (once in tights), and tried to teach me to golf for years in hopes that I’d ever be good enough to play with him (I’m not). He’s the kind of guy who uses pecan halves to write your name on 
Lucky for him, they’re easy to make and far superior to anything on store shelves. We’re talking thick, rich, buttery shortbread loaded with chopped toasted pecans. They’re crunchy with ever-so-slightly soft centers and a sort of smooth meltaway quality (sandiness?) from the addition of confectioner’s sugar. That’s a long way of saying that they’re very good.
The dough is a seven ingredient slice-and-bake situation loaded with real butter and toasted chopped pecans. It comes together quickly, but does require a two hour chill, so plan ahead. Once it’s nice and cold though, you’re just twenty minutes away from the best dang Pecan Sandies you’ve ever had.
The recipe makes three dozen and they keep like a dream for days on end. If you’re a better daughter (or son or child) than I am, these would be perfect for sending to your dad on Father’s Day. Unfortunately for my dad, I’m terrible with anything involving the post office, so he’s getting something I can order online that will not make it on time. Ah, well.
Happy Father’s Day to everyone celebrating, especially my sweet dad. He loves all his daughters, but I think the dog is his favorite. 
e2 bakes brooklyn 