Side Project: Chocolate Chip Cookies

In the office kitchen today, there was a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips, leftover from Friday's milkshake fixings.  I poured a small amount of the chocolate chips into my hand and threw then into my mouth.  They were delicious.  They also inspired me to make some chocolate chip cookies - AND THUS - the first Side Project on The Amateur Mixologist website! 

I've made chocolate chip cookies from a number of different recipes over the years.  I haven't found a go-to recipe just yet, despite many attempts (all of which have been good, but not great).

I found my recipe on a fantastic cooking and food website: 101 Cookbooks.

The recipe comes from a cookbook by David Lebovitz, called The Great Book of Chocolate, available here:  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580084958/heidiswanson-20

Here is the recipe (borrowed liberally from the 101 Cookbooks website):

Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (120 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) (115 grams) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch (1cm) pieces
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (200 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup(130 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped

Adjust the oven rack to the top 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 300F (150C). Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat the sugars and butters together until smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda. Stir together the flour and salt, then mix them into the batter. Mix in the chocolate chips and nuts.

Scoop the cookie dough into 2-tablespoon (5cm) balls and place 8 balls, spaced 4 inches (10cm) apart, on each of the baking sheets.

Bake for 18 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Makes about 20 cookies.

I made a couple of executive decisions:

1. I only formed 12 cookies and not 16.  I doubt it makes too much of a difference, the cookies I made are just a touch bigger than the recipe calls for.  As a result, they required a bit more time in the oven - 20-21 minutes as opposed to 18 minutes.

2. I left out the walnuts or pecans, and just added more chocolate chips.  I like walnuts.  I like pecans.  I like chocolate chips more.

The results were outstanding.

Right of the oven, they were perfectly chewy.  The low baking temperature, and long baking time, allowed the chocolate chips to melt away better than cookies past.

One benefit of my executive decision to make the cookies bigger is that the middle doesn't overcook, like smaller cookies might.  And, they're easier to dunk in milk - a huge plus.

There you have it - the first Side Project.  Big ups to Mr. Lebovitz and 101 Cookbooks for the recipe.