It seems like everyone in the online baking world is talking about the recent New York Times article about chocolate chip cookies. There's a lively discussion at the King Arthur Flour blog, joined by the article author himself (the KAF people prefer their recipe). Also baking doyenne Dorie Greenspan blogged about the article (she's the one who suggested the salt to the author).
Our family's old standby CCC recipe is the modestly-titled "Chocolate Chip Cookies at Their Best" from the Sunset Magazine Favorite Recipes II cookbook (out of print but widely available used). We've always gotten rave reviews when we've made these cookies. "Our" recipe has oats and also some cinnamon, which give a real subtle boost to the texture and the flavor of the cookies, respectively. Sunset also calls for a 2-to-1 shortening ratio. Cooking with shortening really bothers me. While I've been using trans-fat-free shortening, it still has an "ick" to it. So I look forward to testing the all-butter NYT recipe. And then maybe Dorie's. Or Alton Brown's. Or Baking Illustrated. But then again, why mess with the Best?
[updated]
Here's our recipe:
Chocolate Chip Cookies at Their Best
Sunset Cookbook of Favorite Recipes II
1 cup solid shortening
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 eggs (or equivalent egg substitute)
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup regular or quick cooking rolled oats
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 large packages (12 oz. each) semisweet chocolate chips
1. In large bowl of an electric mixer, beat shortening, butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar at high speed until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Beat in vanilla and lemon juice.
4. In another bowl, stir together baking soda, salt, cinnamon, oats and flour.
5. Beat into creamed mixture until well combined.
6. Stir in chocolate chips.
7. For each cooky, drop a scant ¼ cup dough on a lightly greased baking sheet, spacing cookies about 3 inches apart.
8. Bake in a 340° oven for 16 to 18 minutes (or less) or until golden brown.
2 comments:
This recipe looks great and I love oats in my CC cookies. But I have to tell you that the NY Times recipe was outstanding. I highly recommend it!
yes, i remember your round of posting on chocolate chip cookies. this one sounds interesting, especially the lemon juice. i really don't know if i've ever seen that before, but i'm reading it adds chewiness without a lemon flavor when i search on the net.
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