Slow Like Honey

People connate goodbye’s with sadness. For the most part, I agree. There is something about shutting the door on someone or something that makes you feel a little weepy. Who hasn’t cried over a family member’s passing, or a break-up with your significant other? Or felt nervous at the mere idea of leaving home or even leaving school? I can remember feeling extremely sad back in 6th grade, when all of my friends were branching out to different middle schools. I wanted to stand up at my graduation and shout, “Hey! I am NOT okay with this. How about we just go back and re-do this year? Any takers?”

Goodbyes make even those most stoic person nostalgic. Memories from the past come sweeping by, flashing in your mind. You can’t help but sit around, laughing about the good old days. I mentioned that I am in the process of leaving my old job, and while I am so excited to be doing something that I love, I do feel a bit heavy-hearted when I think about leaving my old job. No more long walks around the Capitol, long coffee breaks to Starbucks, office potlucks, and Solitaire tournaments.

On the other hand, goodbyes kind of make me excited. They give me a slight thrill at the mere thought of leaving the known and venturing out. You see, goodbyes signal a change. They are symbols for a fresh start, a promise for new beginnings. It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut or stuck in a position that you feel you can’t get out of. I feel that endings are the way to shake things up, so long as you focus on the positive side.

In honor of my official departure, I share my secret chocolate chip recipe. I make these cookies annually, and never fails they leave their mark on all who eat them. Last year when my friend R left the place where I am currently leaving, I whipped up these bad boys and received huge fanfare. What a way to send someone off! I’d like to think that the tears and hugs I got from my friend R that day were due to her overwhelming sadness of leaving me, but I think that these cookies might’ve been the real reason.

Initally, this recipe was never going to see the light of day on this blog for one main reason. I consider this recipe to be my dirty little secret. It has been basically the only recipe to survive the numerous attempts to clean out my recipe binder. In fact, it has lived through 3 years in my dangerously cluttered kitchen. I’ve made these cookies at least 6 times throughout the past 3 years, which is actually a record for any recipe I stumble upon because the likelihood of actually repeating a recipe in my kitchen is slim to nill. There is just too many recipes to try that repeating a recipe doesn’t really happen. But these babies, my precious little cookies, will always be kept.

I found this recipe a couple years back on Martha Stewart’s website. Look now though, and this recipe is gone. I searched through the multitudes of cookie recipes that Martha has, which took me about 2 hours, and couldn’t find the one that matched my printed out version. All the proportions and ingredients were off. Thank God I printed it out or else this recipe would’ve vanished into thin internet air. Stained with coffee and with bits of chocolate smeared everywhere, the recipe shows its age. But I treasure it like any mother would treasure her child. It’s my baby and I ain’t leaving it!

I don’t know how you like you chocolate chip cookies, but I am a hard person to please. I like them big, fat, and chewy or thin, buttery and crispy. If the crumb is too chewy or the cookie to dense, I will not be pleased. My personal favorite type of cookie is the think and crispy kind, where your teeth crunch into the buttery exterior but melt into the warm chocolate chips. I prefer a larger ratio of brown sugar to white sugar, which gives it an overall more spicy flavor and moist bite. These cookies are the epitome of the perfect crispy cookie. The key to this recipe is using room temperature butter. Always room temperature, people! The Joy of Baking states, “This temperature allows the maximum amount of air to be beaten into your batter. This creaming or beating of your butter or butter and sugar creates air bubbles that your leavener (bakingpowder or baking soda) will enlarge during baking.”

When I made these the first time, I left out all other additional ingredients but now I like to add everything and anything to these cookies. This time around, I threw in some Heath toffee bits and man, what a combo! The bits melted into the crispy cookie, and when you bite into them, you not only get a crunch from the natural crispy outsides, but also from the bits of toffee studded around. What else could you want from a cookie?!

As I leave my old job, saying goodbye to the friends and colleagues that I’ve worked with for the past two years, I feel a little sad and despondent. But, I can’t help but feel excited, thrilled at the new possibilities. Out with the old and in with the new, eh? Here’s to happy goodbyes and hopeful beginnings!

My Secret Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies
from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 and 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 1 twelve-ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips
Heath Toffee bits (I used half the bag but use your own discretion)

Directions:
Heave oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.
Combine butter, and both sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, and mix to combine. Add egg, and continue beating until well combined.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix on low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and toffee bits.
Scoop out 2 tablespoons of doug, and place on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, placing scoops 3 inches apart. Bake until just brown around the edges, 16 to 18 minutes, rotating the pans between the oven shelves halfway through baking. Remove from the oven, and let cool slightly before removing cookies from the sheets. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Yields 24-36 cookies, depending on how big you make them.