the magic of a cookie

I’m a firm believer in the magic of a cookie. When you sink your teeth into a delicious, warm, and gooey cookie, all your problems melt away. It’s like the heavens open up and the gods sing… Okay, that might be a stretch, but honestly, when you find a fantastic cookie, you forget about everything else. Screw the bad day at work, or the petty argument you had with your family. All that matters is having another cookie. and another.

Needless to say, I’ve searched for the perfect chocolate chip cookie ever since I stopped buying those prepared slabs of cookie dough. Frankly, I used to just buy those pillsbury/nestle slabs to eat the cookie dough. Gross, but so good. But once I stumbled upon a Martha Stewart chocolate chip cookie recipe, I was sold. The search was over, I finally settled on using that recipe. The cookies turned out crisp and buttery, with a soft center. Just the way I liked them. I though I had found THE one. (Strangely enough, I can’t find the recipe online anymore, looks like they deleted it from the website. Good thing is that I printed out a copy, bad thing is it’s smeared with chocolate everywhere. It’s okay I can still use it.)

Beat, my pretty, beat!

Until I bought the Baking: From My Home To Yours book. I didn’t think I could find a better chocolate chip cookies recipe. But Dorie has once again proven me wrong. Her recipe gave Martha a run for her money. I think that these two might have to duke it out for title of the best cookie ever.

Can you feel the magic already?

I will give it up to Dorie this time, mainly because the cookie wasn’t filled with as much sugar as the Martha one. (Martha sure likes to give me blood sugar problems). And Dorie’s dough was so good, I could’ve eaten the whole bowl in one sitting.

The batter of goodness.

The cookies puff up once they pop out of the oven but once they cool they settle down. Soft, with crispy edges. Just the way I like them.

sorry for the bad picture, I was busy eating these treats.

Anyways, I think that cookies should be regarded as a healing instrument, a symbol of all things good in the world, and a piece of heavenly magic given to us. It’s hard to stay mad and pissed at the world when you devour a perfect cookie. It’s a different story though, once they are all gone.

Things that I have learned while experimenting with various cookie recipes: make sure that your dough is put in the fridge in between baking rounds because it make sit easier to spoon. Whenever I leave it out on the counter, it gets too runny and I find they spread more on the pan. Also, don’t overcrowd the pan. It’ll run the texture of the cookie. Lastly, make sure that all of your cookies are the same size. You want them to bake at the same temp at the same time.

Dorie’s best chocolate chip cookie 

makes about 45 cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temp
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used 2 cups store-bought chocolate chips)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment or spray with cooking spray.

2. Whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda together.

3. Beat the butter on medium speed for about 1 minute until smooth (you can use a stand mixer, but I don’t have one so I used a hand mixer). Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes, until well blended. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in 3 portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated. By hand with a wooden spoon, mix in the chocolate and nuts. The dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days. (Normally, I put it in the fridge for just a half an hour just to firm it up but this time I couldn’t wait. )

4. Spoon the dough by slightly rounded tablespoonful onto the baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between spoonfuls.

5. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time and rotating the sheet at the midway point- for 10 or 12 minutes, or  until they brown at the edges and are golden in the center. Pull sheet from oven and allow the cookies to rest for 1 minute, then transfer to racks to cool to room temperature.