A guest article by Angela Williams, who makes chewy yet crispy chocolate chip cookies of a special magnificence. I especially like how the taste of salt emerges through the sweetness, and the depth of the dark chocolate. She may be a poet, but I'm trying to convince to make these cookies full-time. Enjoy!The only reason I can think of that people like my cookies so much is due to the butter, salt, and quality of the chocolate chips. I use more butter than is advisable for human consumption. Not really, but to make four dozen chocolate chip cookies you have to stir in two sticks of butter (and I use salted even though unsalted saturates more of the flavor but I looove salted butter). In fact, salt is a necessary ingredient—salted butter and half a teaspoon of salt. It'll offset the sweetness of the granulated and brown sugar.
Next, the chocolate chip issue. Use quality chocolate. I use Ghiradelli's because its chocolate is the closest to gourmet. You can use Tollhouse or Hershey's, but let's face it, those are run-of-the-mill blah chocolate chips and most likely use bad, bad ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup (even regular corn syrup makes the chocolate heavy). You want to taste chocolate, not sweetener. If the chocolate doesn't match the dough's quality, you'll have an uneven cookie. I like to use milk chocolate chips but bittersweet is the best chip to satisfy everyone. That said, I think I made Christie and Marcus worship this particular batch of cookies because I specifically used dark chocolate (60% cocoa).
Last, always understand your oven and its settings. Never leave the cookies in for too long because then they'll dry out. If the recipe calls for 375 degrees (such as mine), then put your cookies in for 9-10 minutes only. The edges should be so lightly brown you can barely tell. The chewier the cookie, the yummier. And always, always hand mix! You'll get a much better texture and you'll burn calories, all at the same time. W
hat could be better than that?
2 comments:
but, wait, where is the recipe? i need to make these little buggers and use them to buy love.
Angela always uses whatever recipe is on the back of the Ghiradelli chocolate chips she buys. She also always uses light brown sugar instead of the regular, darker kind. Be sure to invite me over when you start baking!
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