Everyone has one.. here is mine

No picture this time, because to be honest I was in a mad dash to make it happen. Everyone raves about them, they are very delish but they turn out a little different every time. What is the mystery treat? Chocolate Chip Cookies of course! Mine are a slight variation of the Toll House brand cookie but then what recipe isn't a slight variation on this classic concoction?

Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 sticks cold butter
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 1/2 c flour
• 6oz chocolate chips (or chopped high quality dark chocolate..my fave)
• you decide if you want to be nutty or not but no more than a half cup chopped (I would pick pecans over walnuts any day)

Put the butter in your kitchen aid and let it blend with the paddle until soft (you can skip this and use soften butter but this does change the texture). Once soft, cream in the sugars. Once combined add the eggs (one at a time) and vanilla.

Sometimes I sift my dry ingredients together but most of the time I don't. I just add the salt and baking soda to the mixture and then add the flour (don't over mix once the flour is in or you will get tough cookies). Then I stir in the chocolate chips.

Almost always yields exactly 3 dozen cookies. I use a cookie scooper that I think is 2 tbsp.

Bake 350 for 11-14 minutes - depending on your oven.

I always line my pans, sometimes with parchment sometimes with aluminum foil. You will find you get a slightly different result from each material. Aluminum tends to let the edges get more crispy and oddly enough can sometimes take longer to cook on.

Enjoy!

Feel that Chill????

San Diego may not have seasons like the rest of the country but we do have a distinct change from summer to fall/winter and it has started. A chill in the morning; cool enough at night to start a fire in the old hearth, but absolutely perfect for baking.
It's early October and so begins the testing of holiday cookies. Today's option was a "hermit" cookie - there would be a picture but I thought about it (err, was encouraged to think about it) after the fact. This particular hermit had something of a bread quality to it, very cakey texture with cinnamon, walnuts, raisins, brown sugar and nutmeg. When they first emerged from the oven they looked and tasted a little blah.
Think think think.. I had some 60% cacao bars, some heavy cream and some corn sryup...within minutes I had a fabulous ganache to dip the cookies in, low and behold...DELISH! well not earth shattering but good. They were consumed by the end of the day and now I have an empty tin to fill again.
I have been off blog for a while..updates.. I got the job and have been working for 2 months.. the boy..he is once again off..too many issues there..