Baking Win: Cookies!
I finally made cookies that turned out! (See my earlier post: Cookie Fail).
I guess I subconsciously realized that Friday (Dec. 4th) was National Cookie Day, because I came home feeling the need to turn up the Christmas music, make a boozy peppermint mocha and bake cookies.
Challenge #1: Ever since my mixer died while making cheesecake, I am minus an electronic mixer. The recipe had to be simple enough that it didn’t require anything that couldn’t be done by hand.
Solution #1: Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Challenge #2: One of my problems with baking cookies is that the recipes always end up making, say, three dozen cookies. That’s a lot of cookies, considering that it’s just me and Eric here, and as many people as I can give them away to.
Solution #2: So I googled “Small Batch Baking” on Friday and found out that there is an entire cookbook (I should have guessed) dedicated to this. Here is the recipe I used:
Giant Chocolate Chunk Cookies (adapted from Culinary Adventures of A New Wife)
Yield: 4-5 cookies4 tablespoons very hot melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons beaten egg (break egg, mix it with fork, measure)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon water (optional)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used mini chips)In a bowl, stir together hot butter, powdered sugar and brown sugar until smooth. If still very hot, let cool for about a minute, then stir in egg. Beat with a spoon until egg is fully mixed then stir in vanilla, baking soda and salt. Add flour and stir just until mixed. If dough seems too dry (falling apart), add the water. Stir in chocolate chips and broken cookies. Shape dough into a fat log of about 5 inches log. Chill for 1 hour. Carefully cut log into 4-5 equal pieces. If chunks of cookies and chips fall out, just stick them back onto the cut pieces.
Place cut pieces, spaced about 4 inches away from each other, 4-5 to a sheet, on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees F for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Things I learned while baking cookies this time:
- Parchment paper is critical: The cookies slid right off the paper. Just another reason that I will be asking for a SilPat for Christmas.
- Refrigeration is critical: Indeed, as promised, chilling the dough did wonders for the cookies’ size and shape. Instead of flat, thin cookies, I got six plump and nice looking cookies.
These were cookies that I didn’t feel ashamed in giving to others… win!
