Tag Archives: Cookies

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’ve spent three hours staring at my iPad screen, and I’ve come to a very important realization: there is nothing truly original that I can say about chocolate chip cookies.

They’ve been around since 1938. Everyone’s made them at least once and–with the notable exception of those crazy people who don’t like chocolate–most everyone likes them. I mean, what’s not to like? Sweet caramelly cookies studded with chocolate chips–they’re pretty much perfection in a mouthful.

The great thing about chocolate chip cookies is that there’s no shortage of ways to make them. If you have a preference about texture or flavor, there is a recipe out there for you. Chewy, crispy, crunchy, cakey, thin, thick, more brown sugar, more granulated sugar, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks–whatever you like, there is a recipe out there to suit your needs. <–Thank goodness for the Internet.

I’ve tried a lot of the recipes out there, and while all of them have been delicious (because how couldn’t they be?), none were quite right for me. Over the last two years, I’ve made A LOT of chocolate chip cookies, and I’ve slowly formulated a recipe that I love more than any other. They’re super soft and chewy with tons of brown sugar and chocolate. Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way.

1. Go with softened butter. The air beaten into room temperature butter allows these cookies to be both puffy and chewy. I’ve made many batches with melted butter and while the finished cookies are delicious, they are too thin for my taste, even after a long chill. If thinner cookies are your preference, this recipe will work with 1 cup melted butter. If you go that route, I suggest a three hour chill.

2. Use a ton of dark brown sugar. I like to use an 80/20 ratio of dark brown to granulated sugars. This not only enhances the softness and chew, but gives the finished cookies an amazing caramel flavor. Light brown sugar will work in a pinch, but dark brown really makes these cookies sing.

3. Vanilla makes it all work. The most significant thing I learned while formulating this recipe is that I have very specific ideas about how much vanilla belongs in chocolate chip cookies. One teaspoon is too little for me, and two teaspoons (which seems to be the standard) is too much. I use 1 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract, and I think it balances the brown sugar and chocolate flavors perfectly.

4. Go crazy with the chocolate chips, but not too crazy. This recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips. I used to think this wasn’t enough, so I added more and more, up to two whole cups. Let me say this–the extra chocolate is delicious, but it makes the cookies spread like crazy as it melts. If you want more chocolate chips, I suggest using an extra 1/2 cup or so to dot the tops just after the cookies come out of the oven. These were made with Ghirardelli semisweet morsels because I have 9+ pounds of them right now, but I’ve tried them with many other brands and every single one of them has been fantastic. Use whichever brand you like best.

So here it is, the recipe for my favorite chocolate chip cookies. Make them this weekend (Sunday, May 15th, is National Chocolate Chip Day), and share them with people you love. I hope this recipe will be your favorite, too.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes about four dozen cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a separate large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream butter until light and fluffy. Beat in dark brown sugar and granulated sugar, followed by egg, yolk, and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients in three installments, combining completely after each addition. Fold in chocolate chips.

Cover dough with plastic wrap. Chill for at least two hours, or up to three days.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop chilled dough by the tablespoon and roll into balls. Set dough balls at least two inches apart on prepared baking pans. Bake 8-10 minutes, until puffy and starting to turn golden at the edges. Let cool ten minutes on the baking pans before transferring to a rack to cool completely. Repeat scooping, rolling, and baking wth any remaining dough.

Cookies will keep covered at room temperature for up to a week.

Vanilla Bean Sandwich Cookies

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Confession: I’m a vanilla person. Given the choice, I will pick vanilla over chocolate every single time. It’s not that I don’t like chocolate, it’s that I enjoy vanilla just the tiniest bit more. If you think I’ve gone and lost my mind, know that I come by it honestly.

So many people rag on vanilla, saying it’s boring. As far as I’m concerned though, when vanilla is done right, it’s anything but! In fact, my most popular cake order is this Vanilla Layer Cake. It has a little bit of a following! Oh, and these Vanilla Wafers are so good, you’ll never buy the boxed variety again.

Long story short, I’m out to prove that vanilla is a powerhouse flavor. To make my point, I’m bringing you some fantastic sandwich cookies that are packed to the gills with vanilla bean flavor. Oh yes, these Vanilla Bean Sandwich Cookies are amazing! Soft, chewy vanilla bean cookies sandwiched together with the creamiest, dreamiest vanilla bean filling ever. There’s nothing plain about these little cookies!

There’s nothing difficult about them either. The cookie dough is simple and straightforward–the hardest part is rolling 120 teaspoon-sized balls of cookie dough! And the filling is basically just a scaled down version of my go-to buttercream frosting. I use shortening in this recipe because I find it makes the filling reminiscent of Oreos, but you may substitute an equal volume of softened butter if you prefer.

As easy as this recipe is though, there’s one thing that we need to talk about. This recipe contains one specialty ingredient: Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste. You see, as much as I love vanilla, I can rarely bring myself to purchase whole vanilla beans. At $4 a pop, I just can’t justify the cost. Vanilla bean paste is my go-to for all recipes that demand the good stuff. It’s full of vanilla bean seeds and high-quality vanilla extract, and a $14 jar lasts forever. Trust me, nobody can tell that I didn’t throw $8 worth of vanilla beans into my recipes! See all those little black specks? If I didn’t tell you directly that I didn’t scrape those from whole vanilla beans, you’d never know the difference. But if you’re feeling fancy, feel free to use the real deal.

Whether you’re into vanilla or chocolate, you’ll love these Vanilla Bean Sandwich Cookies! They’re anything but plain 😊

Vanilla Bean Sandwich Cookies
makes about five dozen sandwich cookies

Cookies:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste*

Filling:
1/2 cup shortening*
2 1/4-2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste*

Make the cookies. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a separate large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter until light and fluffy. Beat in sugar, followed by egg and yolk. Mix in vanilla bean paste. Add flour mixture in two installments, mixing to combine completely. Chill dough for 90 minutes in the refrigerator.*

Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Scoop chilled dough by the teaspoon, and roll into balls. Set dough balls 1 1/2-inches apart on prepared pans. Bake 6-8 minutes, until no longer raw looking. Let cool on the pans for five minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.

To make the filling, place the shortening in a large mixing bowl, and beat with a hand mixer on low speed. Once it’s smooth, add in 2 1/4 cups confectioner’s sugar and salt in two installments, until smooth. Beat in heavy cream and vanilla bean paste. If you’d like the filling to be thicker, add an additional 1/4 cup of confectioner’s sugar. If you would like to pipe the filling, place it in a plastic sandwich bag, and snip off a corner.

There are two options for filling:

1. To assemble a sandwich cookie by piping, apply filling by piping a circle in the middle of the underside of one cookie, leaving about 1/4″ around the edge. Top with a second plain cookie, with the underside filling-side-in. Repeat until all cookies have been used.

2. To assemble a sandwich cookie by spreading, use an offset frosting knife to spread 1/2-1 teaspoon on the underside of one cookie. Top with a second plain cookie, with the underside filling-side-in. Repeat until all cookies have been used.

Vanilla Bean Sandwich Cookies keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Notes:

1. If you do not have or do not want to use vanilla bean paste, you may use the scraped seeds of half a vanilla bean plus two teaspoons of pure vanilla extract. Alternatively, you may use one tablespoon pure vanilla extract.
2. If you do not want to use shortening, you may substitute 1/2 cup (1 stick) room temperature unsalted butter.
3. If you do not have or do not want to use vanilla bean paste, you may use the scraped seeds of half a vanilla bean plus one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. Alternatively, you may use two teaspoons pure vanilla extract.
4. I have sped up the chilling process by throwing the dough in the freezer for fifteen minutes. The dough may need to spend five minutes at room temperature before scooping.

Snickerdoodles

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies

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One of the best things about being a baker is watching people enjoy what you’ve made. When you’ve put a few hours (or more!) into making something delicious, it’s always a treat when your friends really love it. I am really lucky–for the last 18 months, I’ve had the opportunity to make cookies for 30+ of my closest acquaintances every Wednesday night. My cookie commitment is one of the highlights of my week. I love bringing in whatever I’ve been working on lately and seeing how it goes over with the crowd. If all the cookies disappear within the first half hour, I know I’ve got something blog-worthy. These Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies have done that three times. Three.

I first made these cookies about a year ago. It was one of those rare days when I was down to a single stick of butter. I sat in front of my refrigerator dreading going to Trader Joe’s at rush hour (read: every single hour they’re open) just for butter. I mean, if I’m going to brave that kind of craziness, I better need at least five different things, and the free sample better be taquitos. I dug around the back of my fridge for something–anything–that might work, and lo and behold, I found a half-brick of cream cheese. I mixed it into some dough, baked some cookies, and headed out the door.

I set these cookies on a platter next to the coffee pot and waited for the crowds. I wasn’t expecting much, if any, fanfare–they were just oatmeal cookies, after all. But life is funny, and less than thirty minutes later the cookies were gone and my friends were raving about the super chewy texture!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies have been one of the few recipes I’ve repeated with that group, and they disappear in a flash every single time. Last night, they were gone in fifteen minutes flat!

So, why does cream cheese make these cookies so special? Well, it’s all in the chemistry. In standard oatmeal cookie recipes, eight ounces of butter are softened and beaten into the wet ingredients. The high fat content in the butter allows for the resulting cookies to bake up super tender. There’s plenty of chew from the oats, but the cookie base stays pretty soft.

If, however, you use four ounces of softened butter and four ounces of softened cream cheese, the resulting cookies will be extra chewy. This is because cream cheese has a butterfat content of 35% and a water content of 55%. Butter, on the other hand, has a butterfat content of 84% and a water content of 15%. The fat (butterfat, in this case) is what keeps our cookies from drying out and becoming rocks. It keeps everything moist after the water evaporates and makes the resulting cookies super soft, chewy and delicious. It also keeps them from spreading very much in the oven.

Where standard oatmeal cookie dough has 84% butterfat, this oatmeal cream cheese cookie dough has about 60% butterfat. This means that a) the resulting cookies will be slightly chewier than they are soft, and b) they will have fewer calories, so you can eat more with less guilt 😊
Whew! That’s a lot of science for a Thursday. Too much.

The point is this: these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies aren’t your average oatmeal cookies. While you may not be able to really taste the cream cheese, you will notice the extra chewiness…and trust me, you’ll love it.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies
makes about 4 dozen cookies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
4oz full fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat softened butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in dark brown and granulated sugars, followed by eggs and vanilla. Mix in flour mixture in two installments, scraping the bowl as necessary. Beat in oats in two installments, followed by chocolate chips.

Drop dough onto prepared pans by the tablespoon, keeping them about 2 inches apart (the cookies won’t spread much). Bake 9-11 minutes, until no longer raw-looking. Let cool on the pans for five minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely. Repeat baking process until all dough has been used.

Cookies will keep covered at room temperature for up to a week.

Vanilla Wafers

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Sometimes you just need something easy. Something that will satisfy your sweet tooth, but also doesn’t have 43 ingredients or involve a 90 minute chill. Something that turns out every single time without you having to think too hard. Something that will go well with Nutella or ice cream or pudding or coffee. Something that you can pull out of the cabinet when company shows up, and look like Ina freaking Garten because *of course* you have these on-hand all the time.

Well, this is that recipe.

These vanilla wafers are so quick and easy, and they are ten zillion times better than the boxed variety. And I should know–these were the first recipe I “mastered” almost three years ago. I made them over and over again for months! I can practically bake them in my sleep.

The dough comes together in ten minutes flat, and doesn’t involve any special ingredients. If you feel like you have no food in the house, you probably still have all the ingredients to make these wafers. These cookies came to mind last week because I had one egg, one stick of butter, and not much of anything else. Less than 90 minutes later, I had made the world’s simplest dough, rolled it, and baked 152 tiny little cookies.

The most work-heavy part is probably the rolling–scooping dough 1/2 teaspoon at a time can get a little tedious–but that really doesn’t take more than a few minutes. I use my half-sheet pans for making these, and that allows me to bake 54 on a single pan! If you place one on each rack, that means all the cookies will be done in two batches. Easy peasy.

And oh, are they good. For someone who prefers soft and chewy cookies, I sure do love these crispy, crunchy wafers. They’re buttery and full of vanilla flavor, and there’s a divine caramel undertone thanks to the brown sugar.

I love to make these Vanilla Wafers into tiny ice cream sandwiches, dunk them in coffee and, obviously, throw them into banana pudding. But of course, they’re wonderful just on their own.

Vanilla Wafers
adapted from Serious Eats
makes about 13 dozen very small cookies

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed*
1 large egg, room temperature
4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in granulated and light brown sugars, followed by egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients in two installments, combining completely after each addition.

Scoop dough by the 1/2 teaspoon, roll into balls*, and set 1-inch apart on prepared baking pans. Bake 8-9 minutes, or until browned at the edges and no longer raw-looking. Let cool five minutes on the pans before removing to a rack to cool completely.

Vanilla Wafers will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for at least a week.

Notes:

1. If you do not have or do not want to use light brown sugar, granulated sugar may be substituted.
2. Dough should be sticky, but still rollable.

Vanilla Wafers

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Tag Archives: Cookies

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

Vanilla Bean Sandwich Cookies

Snickerdoodles

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies

Vanilla Wafers