Apparently I'm still on my cookie fixation from last week, because the other night I had to make a sudden stop at the grocery store to buy a bag of chocolate chips so I could make my own....
Don't be fooled by my lame photo taken in a poorly-flourescent-lit kitchen at nighttime ...these cookies are DELICIOUS!! Typically I prefer to follow my Mom's cookie recipes, but Pinterest keeps offering up so many tempting pictures of baked goods I decided to try something different. I love how this recipe from Lovin' From the Oven turned out! (And yes, they have much better photos showcasing this on their site.) These crispy on the outside- soft and chewy on the inside- chocolate chip cookies were a huge hit both times I made them. Taz, my roommates, Taz's mom, and my co-workers can all attest to that! (My co-workers ate them in the office for breakfast today!)
A few notes on the original recipe:
1. This recipe calls for "melted butter". Generally I'm used to using room-temperature softened butter when making cookies. I put my butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds so that it was soft, but not melted. Either method is fine it just provides a different consistency to the cookie.
2. The recipe asks you to refrigerate the dough for at least an hour after preparing it. I didn't do this, since I wanted my cookies right away! They turned out fine both times I've cheated with the non-refrigeration. However, after reading this, I understand better the reason for refrigerating the dough, and will definitely try it next time. The one thing I noted about the original recipe and mine, is that it refers to the cookies as being "thick", while mine turned out on the flatter side. Pretty sure if I followed instructions properly mine would have been thick too!
3. The baking time on the recipe is 15 to 17 minutes. This varies depending on your oven. I have an old gas oven that heats up very quickly, and I ended up cooking every batch for exactly 10 minutes. Be sure to bake just one sheet at a time on the middle oven rack for good consistency.
4. The recipe says to drop 1/4 cup of the dough onto the cookie sheets. I've never seen 'cup' measurements when it comes to placing cookie dough on a sheet. Typically its about a teaspoon- tablespoon full when you make chocolate chip cookies, so I just went with my usual tablespoon-size drops (a little over 1" wide ball of dough) It yielded about 2 1/2 dozen. If you make the 1/4 cup size cookies let me know! Maybe they are supposed to be giant cookies and I'm missing out!
5. And as promised, my secret ingredient...
Trader Joe's Pure Bourbon Vanilla Extract. My favorite vanilla extract I've found yet! I always use a little more then the recommended tablespoon since its so good!
Happy Baking!
Happy Baking!
