Ok, I did intend for this blog to focus mainly on vegetarian cooking. And cookies don't exactly count as a meal. I also made zucchini mushroom and tomato pasta tonight, but I forgot to take pictures. So when our house was fortunate enough to receive a visit from Spider and Dr. Rubrub's brother and his lovely wife, I decided it was time to bake something. (I wasn't drunk this time, but usually that's how the evening plays out.)
These cookies I tried on a whim once and were declared by my boss to be her favorite. Tonight I used Smitten Kitchen's Crispy Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies as the base recipe, tweaking just a few things because I don't like wasting egg whites and I only wanted brown sugar. You can use your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, (I often use this one from Orangette, which is just lovely.)
The key is this: melt the butter.
Don't you hate it when you decide to bake and then realize you have no butter softened, so you either have to wait or use a microwave? Am I alone in hating this? Anyway, a few years ago I read an issue of Cooks Illustrated in which the poor test-baker accidentally discovered the secret to making cookies taste better while also being more convenient: melt the butter. Melt it. You can start with butter straight out of the fridge, melt it in a pan and then combine it with the sugar. Walk away. Let the two get to know one another until the heat from the butter starts to make a lovely rich flavor with the sugar. (Make sure you leave them alone long enough for the whole thing to cool a decent amount before adding the eggs.)
Assemble your ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 cup butter (melted)
1 cup brown sugar tightly packed
2 eggs (or one egg and one egg yolk if you have use for the extra white)
1 tsp vanilla extract
10 oz bag of chocolate chips (I use 60% dark)
1/3 cup candied ginger finely chopped
Pre-heat oven to 325. Melt the butter and combine it with the sugar. Mix until creamy.
Leave the bowl alone. Chop up your ginger, measure and combine the flour, salt, baking soda and ground ginger in a different bowl. When the sugar and butter have been sitting for about 15-30 minutes, add in the eggs and vanilla, mixing well between each. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients. When combined, add chocolate chips and chopped ginger.
I use this Trader Joe's ginger, which I love because it's not too sweet. I think even the crystallized stuff is good, but whatever you do, be sure and wash your knife really well after chopping, especially if you're using Dr. Rubrub's very sharp chef's knife because THAT THING WILL HAVE ITS VENGEANCE. Knives are very good at waiting to take their revenge. Trust me.
Anyway, your dough should look like this:
At this point you should probably offer spoonfuls around to your housemates, but warn them that these cookies actually taste much better in cookie form than in dough. I don't know why that is, but it's true.
Drop spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet, about an inch apart. You can bake these a little closer than other cookies because the butter is already melted and they won't spread as much.
I know baking is supposedly not the time for improvisation, but I've never been one to abide by that wisdom. If you like your cookies spicier, add more ginger. If you like them with a little extra kick of salt, up the kosher salt or lightly sprinkle the dough with a few grains before they go in the oven. I decreased the sugar from the recipe I was working off of, because the ginger adds sweetness as well as spice, but you could add the extra 1/2 cup of white sugar if you want. Once you get a good understanding of how each ingredient functions in the cookie, you can make substitutions and adjustments as you like.
Hopefully these cookies will buy me the affection of my new coworkers tomorrow. Other great twists to put on standard CCCs are orange/clove, Sea salt and almonds, or my greatest baking creation: pumpkin chocolate chip.
These cookies I tried on a whim once and were declared by my boss to be her favorite. Tonight I used Smitten Kitchen's Crispy Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies as the base recipe, tweaking just a few things because I don't like wasting egg whites and I only wanted brown sugar. You can use your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, (I often use this one from Orangette, which is just lovely.)
The key is this: melt the butter.
Don't you hate it when you decide to bake and then realize you have no butter softened, so you either have to wait or use a microwave? Am I alone in hating this? Anyway, a few years ago I read an issue of Cooks Illustrated in which the poor test-baker accidentally discovered the secret to making cookies taste better while also being more convenient: melt the butter. Melt it. You can start with butter straight out of the fridge, melt it in a pan and then combine it with the sugar. Walk away. Let the two get to know one another until the heat from the butter starts to make a lovely rich flavor with the sugar. (Make sure you leave them alone long enough for the whole thing to cool a decent amount before adding the eggs.)
Assemble your ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 cup butter (melted)
1 cup brown sugar tightly packed
2 eggs (or one egg and one egg yolk if you have use for the extra white)
1 tsp vanilla extract
10 oz bag of chocolate chips (I use 60% dark)
1/3 cup candied ginger finely chopped
Pre-heat oven to 325. Melt the butter and combine it with the sugar. Mix until creamy.
Leave the bowl alone. Chop up your ginger, measure and combine the flour, salt, baking soda and ground ginger in a different bowl. When the sugar and butter have been sitting for about 15-30 minutes, add in the eggs and vanilla, mixing well between each. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients. When combined, add chocolate chips and chopped ginger.
I use this Trader Joe's ginger, which I love because it's not too sweet. I think even the crystallized stuff is good, but whatever you do, be sure and wash your knife really well after chopping, especially if you're using Dr. Rubrub's very sharp chef's knife because THAT THING WILL HAVE ITS VENGEANCE. Knives are very good at waiting to take their revenge. Trust me.
Anyway, your dough should look like this:
At this point you should probably offer spoonfuls around to your housemates, but warn them that these cookies actually taste much better in cookie form than in dough. I don't know why that is, but it's true.
Drop spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet, about an inch apart. You can bake these a little closer than other cookies because the butter is already melted and they won't spread as much.
I know baking is supposedly not the time for improvisation, but I've never been one to abide by that wisdom. If you like your cookies spicier, add more ginger. If you like them with a little extra kick of salt, up the kosher salt or lightly sprinkle the dough with a few grains before they go in the oven. I decreased the sugar from the recipe I was working off of, because the ginger adds sweetness as well as spice, but you could add the extra 1/2 cup of white sugar if you want. Once you get a good understanding of how each ingredient functions in the cookie, you can make substitutions and adjustments as you like.
Hopefully these cookies will buy me the affection of my new coworkers tomorrow. Other great twists to put on standard CCCs are orange/clove, Sea salt and almonds, or my greatest baking creation: pumpkin chocolate chip.
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