|
Like most of us who were raised on chocolate chip cookies, I'm crazy about them. However, I find a lot of ccc's boring because they're a little too -- dare I say it -- white bread. That's why I like them with toasted oats and nuts. But what makes them most interesting is the chocolate. Chocolate chips are okay, but most of them contain parafin so they don't melt quickly. Now that high-quality chocolate is more readily available, I prefer purchasing a high quality single-origin or Maker's Reserve chocolate such as Guittard's Colombian or Venezuelan chocolate and chopping it into small chunks. A faster, easier solution is to use Guittard's pistoles, which are chocolate discs that have a lower melting point and are quite tasty.
An additional trick that makes chocolate chip cookies memorable, is to allow the dough rest in the refrigerator for 36 hours before baking. If you can't wait that long, rest the dough at least 12 hours. Why? Because the liquids have time to be better absorbed by the flour and the cookies will come out with a brown crispness on the outside, moving toward a chewy center. Delicious!
Ingredients
1 cup (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon Rain's Choice vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2-1/3 cups lightly toasted oats (not instant)
12 ounces high quality semi-sweet chocolate chunks or Guittard pistoles
1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts
Instructions
Place butter in a large bowl, and beat butter with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well to incorporate. Add vanilla.
In a separate bowl sift flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl. Add oats and blend well.
Pour dry mixture into the wet mixture and stir with rubber spatula until well incorporated. Add chocolate and nuts.
Place mixture in refrigerator and allow to rest for 36 hours. When ready to bake cookies,
preheat oven to 350 - 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment.
Using a small ice cream scoop or 1/4 - 1/3 cup measuring cups, scoop cookies onto the sheets, leaving about 1-1/2 - 2 inches between cookies. This will make thicker cookies. If you prefer thinner cookies, flatten them with the back of a spoon or your hand.
Bake in the middle of the oven. Check cookies at 9 minutes. Depending on oven and size of cookies, it will take between 9 and 12 minutes for them to be ready.
Place baking sheet on cooling rack for 2 minutes. Slide cookies on parchment onto cooling rack and allow to cool. Store in an airtight container.
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
