Chocolate Chip Cookies Mk. 3

In my quest for the best chocolate chip cookie, I tried another recipe. I still think the pudding version wins compared to this one for flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp hot water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. 
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. 
4. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. 
5. Stir in flour, in small batches.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Drop by large spoonfuls onto parchment paper covered cookie sheets.
8. Bake for about 10-13 minutes, or until edges are nicely browned.

Thoughts:
These were ok. I feel like there needs to be more salt. They also took a while to brown, 15 minutes or so, but then again, my oven is slow.

Next Time:

• 1 tsp of salt

Snowy White Chocolate Crescents

I got this recipe from this old Mrs. Fields cookbook that I was gifted with the other week, since no one else was using it at my dad's place. These cookies aren't the most aesthetically pleasing cookies. Perhaps it is my sub-standard rolling techniques, but mine came out like weird space invader ships and not like the fancy pictures in the cook book. Plus, I think I put my powdered sugar on too soon or they need to still cool outside of a container once the sugar was on. We had some problems with melting sugar when you touched them.

Makes: Roughly 2 1/2 dozen.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter - softened
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, sift together flour, salt, and cocoa.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
4. Add vanilla and egg and beat until smooth.
5. Add in flour/cocoa mixture a bit at a time until fully incorporated.
6. Shape a level tablespoon or 1/2 tablespoon full into a 3 1/2 inch log.
7. Slightly bend the log to form crescent shape.
8. Place on baking sheet, about 1 inch apart (They don't really spread much)
9. Bake for 15-17min or until outside is hard but center is soft.
10. Cool on pan for a few minutes, then transfer to another surface to cool.
11. While still warm, roll cookies in powdered sugar until coated.

Thoughts:
These don't really require a lot of ingredients, which is why I made them as opposed to something more fancy. There isn't a whole lot of places to tweak since it is so minimal. Perhaps adding mini chocolate chips to the dough would spice things up. Also, the shape makes people thing of non-tasty things, so perhaps ill shaped crescents aren't the way to go.

Next Time:

• Mini-chocolate chips to add some flavor since everything is bitter?
• Make fun shapes? Spell out names? Since there is no leavening agent, the cookies don't change shape while baking really.

Father's Day

So I wanted to make something for my dad for Father's Day, and since he loves cookies, I went ahead and made some. I thought that just getting one kind was kind of boring, and he would probably appreciate a variety. Then my my Sunday plans died, and I kind of went nuts. So yeah... I guess I can now answer "Yes" if anyone asks me if I have ever made an entire table's worth of cookies.

S'mores Cookies

I got this recipe from a blog called Baked Perfection and while it is one of my more labor intensive cookies, it is the favorite of everyone who has tried it.

Makes: Roughly 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash of cinnamon
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups miniature chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
• 2 King size Hershey bars, chopped into chunks (make 3 pieces out of each predefined piece for 2 chocolate pieces per cookie)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a bowl, sift together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt, and dash of cinnamon. 
3. In a second bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until smooth. 
6. Stir in the chocolate chips. 
7. Put in freezer for 20-30min to chill dough
8. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.
9. Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven. 
10. Quickly push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of hershey bar into each cookies. 
11. Return to the oven and bake an additional 3-4 minutes until fully cooked. 
12. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Thoughts: 
I like these cookies, they are currently my most labor intensive cookie, which is something I hope to change. My only "complaint" about them is that they get really flat when cooling. When you pull them out of the oven to put in the marshmallows and chocolate, they look great, but by the time all of that is on, and then they are back out of the oven again, they are very flat. Maybe some baking powder would help? Not sure

Next Time:

• Try putting in 1 teaspoon baking powder to see if the cookies stay a little fluffier.

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Pudding Version

I think that while growing up, my favorite cookie has always been the chocolate chip variety. Recently I have expanded my horizons, but the classics are classics for a reason. I found this recipe online and was immediately intrigued, I had tried a few before that when I was first starting to bake more and had been disappointed, and was very pleased by these cookies.

Makes: Roughly 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla (or whatever) pudding mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. 
4. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. 
5. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. 
6. Blend in the flour mixture. 
7. Stir in the chocolate chips.
8. Put dough the freezer for 20-30min
9. Drop by rounded 1/2 tablespoonfuls onto un-greased cookie sheets.
10. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown. 

Thoughts:
I like these cookies, but they aren't as good as some I have had. Maybe the pudding adds too much to the substance. Maybe the fact I used milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet plays a factor. Maybe it needs more salt? Overall, I've made these 3 times now and I definitely will again in the future, I think I'm going to try other recipes as well to find the truly best cookie.

Next Time:

• Try a different recipe to branch out. Perhaps Alton Brown's "The Chewy" recipe
• For this recipe, I want to try and add more salt, see if that helps.
• Try chocolate pudding, I used French Vanilla this time.

Spiced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I've made these cookies before and really enjoyed them, this time I tweaked the recipe based off of some suggestions I saw online. Overall, I like them much better this time. Plus, I didn't forget to add the vanilla, which I think helped. To add variety, I like to split the raisins with 1/2 normal and 1/2 white raisins to give the cookies some interesting visuals.

Makes: Roughly 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins (soak in hot water for 10 or so minutes to plump up the raisins, then drain)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until creamy.
3. Add in the eggs, and vanilla until mix until smooth. 
4. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in a separate bowl.
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients a bit at a time until just combined. 
6. Stir in the oats and raisins. 
7. Put into the freezer for roughly 20-30min to chill the dough.
8. Drop by rounded 1/2 tablespoonfuls onto un-greased cookie sheets covered in parchment paper.
9. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely.

Thoughts:
The recipe originally called for 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup butter flavored shortening, but I like the version with all butter better. It was missing something last time. Also, I added 1/2 t more cinnamon than the recipe originally called for, along with adding in the ginger and nutmeg. I like them better this way, but we shall see what the public consensus is.

Next Time:

• I want to try adding more raisins, some of the cookies seem to have a deficit of them, which is definitely something to be rectified.
• I want to try adding a little more allspice. Or maybe the same level of allspice, but add in a little bit of cloves, like the original recipe calls for.

Snickerdoodles

So, tonight was my first attempt at Snickerdoodles. I had heard good things about them, but have never tried them.

Recipe:
I got this from the internet, but I altered the recipe somewhat from what I found based on previous baking endeavors.

Makes About: 4 dozenish

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar - I used White Vinegar instead

Coating:

• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 3.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar.
   
3. Add the eggs and the vanilla and mix together.
   
4. In a seperate bowl, sift together the flour, soda, and salt.
5. Add dry ingredients a little at a time to wet bowl and mix well.
6. Add vinegar and mix in, being careful not to over mix.
   
7. Shape dough by rounded half tablespoon scoops into balls.
   
8. Mix the 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon in a ziplock baggie. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets covered in parchment paper.
9. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

Additional notes for my kitchen: I have an airbake cookie sheet, which needs longer in the over, so the cookies went for 10:30 on it, and a non-airbake which only went in for 9. My oven is woefully imbalanced in terms of heating, so I let things go a little longer than most recipes call for.

Thoughts:
While they smell awesome while cooking, the flavor isn't as strong as I would have expected, they seem a little bland to me. Maybe that's a good thing? We shall see what the judges think.

Next time:

• Don't knock cooked cookies into the oven causing burning and a frantic attempt to pick out cookie bits of a 400 degree oven.
• Maybe a little more salt to add flavor?
• Maybe a touch more vanilla? The cookies don't have brown sugar like most others, which could be part of the deficit of flavor.
• Perhaps instead of 1/2 cup shortening, using butter flavored shortening? Or maybe just 1 whole cup of butter instead.