Sunday, April 15, 2012

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have to tell you that chocolate chip cookies are a classic. Everyone loves them, gets all nostalgic thinking about their childhood cookies, admits to having baked store bought slice-and-bake Tollhouse cookies. They were the first cookies I ever baked, and boy was that a disaster.

They definitely didn't look like this. Nor did they taste as amazing. How could I mess up something as simple as a freaking chocolate chip cookie? I gave up on baking.

Then I began working retail at a cupcake bakery, where my new hobby quickly became asking the bakers every other day why my previous attempts at baking had fallen flat. After scolding me for creating baking "shortcuts", they gave me a few tips:

1. Cream the butter/oil with the sugar first. Do it. Make sure it's nice and incorporated, you don't want buttery streaks in your cookies. Also, don't cheat and nuke the butter when the recipe clearly states: room temperature. It will cause your cookies to spread!
2. Add in the flour last and don't over-mix! Glutens start to set when flour is added to the rest of the ingredients, and over-mixing will give you a dry, tough cookie.
3. Don't open the oven frequently. The heat escapes, causing your cookies to take longer to bake!
4. Be patient. As tempting as it is, don't immediately eat that delectable creation you just pulled out of the oven. Again, with the glutens: they have to set. Patience, young padawan.

Your cookie dough should aspire to look like this! I decided it was time for a cookie lesson post while making chocolate chip cookies at a friend's house; they were expressing dismay over less-than-perfect cookies they had baked a few weeks prior. Admitting they threw all the ingredients together at once, I knew I had to pass on the baking wisdom. And without further ado...

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Isa's recipe
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup almond milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease two large light metal baking sheets.

In a large bowl, mix together sugars and oil. I whisk them with a fork until completely integrated. Add in milk, vanilla and stir to combine well.

Add the flour, the baking soda and salt. Fold with a spatula, making sure to not over-mix. Fold in the chocolate chips, oatmeal and cinnamon. Again, don't over-mix!

Using a tablespoon, scoop the dough and roll into ping pong ball sized balls. Place on a baking sheet and remember they will spread, so don't plop them too close to one another. Bake for about 8 - 9 minutes, until they are just a little browned around the edges. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. Indulge.

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