OFF TOPIC: Any Baker's out there? Choc Chip Cookie question

[rickets]

I second the recommendation for browning the butter first. I generally do the butter browning the day before baking. I've found that, for some reason, browning the butter eliminates the problem of the cookie bottoms browning before the tops of the cookies have had enough time to bake. Which means you don't have to leave them in the oven so long that the undersides wind-up crispy.

[FitBoop]

Thank you for this thread! This is one of the best threads ever on VF because:

1. I love baking chocolate chip cookies, and

2. This helps us to justify why we need to buy so many exercise DVDs .


My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe is the one on the back of the semi-sweet chocolate chip bag by Ghiradelli:

2 1/4 cups unsifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed until incorporated. Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in choc. chips and nuts (if desired). Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

P.S. This thread should be moved to the Recipe forum.

[ARTmethodfan]

Originally Posted by Mopsy

Next time you do this, will you please call me? I will volunteer my services. Thanks.

LOL!!! Oh Louise - I wish you would have been there. I could have used some help. I'll be sure to let you know if I ever get a wild idea like that again.

[unfetteredpast]

I use the recipe on the back of the Nestle package, but I like to embellish a little. My favorite is to add some grated orange peel and a little orange juice with the eggs and sugar. I also try different nuts. My favorite is hazelnuts. (FWIW, DH really dislikes it when I stray from the original recipe, so I'll revert back to the original to appease him on occasion.)

If your oven has a convection feature, use it.

Remove the cookies from the sheet to a cooling rack right away after they come out of the oven. If they stay on the sheet, they continue to bake on the hot sheet.

I also chill the dough, but not so long that I need a chisel to get the dough out of the bowl and onto the cookie sheet!

[lilmonkey2]

I have made the recipe Danielle posted (the browned butter ones) and they are pretty amazing. Making them is a little tedious but the cookies taste like no other chocolate chip cookie.

When I make a basic batch of chocolate chip cookies, I usually scoop out the dough onto cookie sheets and freeze the balls of dough. Then I store them in a freezer bag so I can eat fresh baked chocolate chip cookies whenever I want them. Baking the cookie dough from the freezer like that helps keep them from flattening out, too.

I've also seen recipes where a portion of the flour is replaced by cornstarch. Whenever I make choc chip cookies with cornstarch they are always puffier and softer than when I make them without cornstarch.

[runnermom]

I have to vote for the Cook's Illustrated recipe- it's my favorite! LOVE IT!

[ktlc]

While I love the Toll House cookie recipe - although I use margarine rather than butter and chill it for at least an hour - they are mostly flatter and crispier depending on how long you bake them. A huge favorite at our house. I'm told the Cooks Illustrated recipe is very good if you like soft and chewy.

[BigBadBetty]

Originally Posted by FitBoop

Thank you for this thread! This is one of the best threads ever on VF because:

1. I love baking chocolate chip cookies, and

2. This helps us to justify why we need to buy so many exercise DVDs .


My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe is the one on the back of the semi-sweet chocolate chip bag by Ghiradelli:

2 1/4 cups unsifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed until incorporated. Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in choc. chips and nuts (if desired). Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

P.S. This thread should be moved to the Recipe forum.

I use this recipe. I get asked for the recipe all the time! I really like using the chocolate chunks instead of the chips. One time I used Reese's Pieces instead of the nuts...it was awesome!

[sherry7899]

I really like the recipe from the Ghiardelli bag also.

Sherry

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by Laura S.

I have always used the original Toll House Cookie recipe, NOT the one they have had on the packages since the 1980s, but the ORIGINAL original recipe that my mom pulled off the package back in the early 1960s. The recipe below is doubled since it never seemed worth the effort to back what was one batch back in 1960.

2 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt

Mix those ingredients. Then add:

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. shortening

Mix those ingredients. Then add:

2 c. chocolate chips
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. The key is to pull them out of the oven just after they have begun to brown and the raw look is done.

Good luck with your search!

Oh, thank you so much! I love old school recipes.