The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies (according to the NY Times)

I have been seeing the NY Times chocolate chip cookie around the internet for a while now. These are all over Pinterest. As I have been unsatisfied with the versions I've been using (too flat), it was time to cave to peer pressure.

After a heavy amount of anticipation, A and I agree - these are some darn good chocolate chip cookies. I think everyone has their own idea of what is "best" for a chocolate chip cookie (thin versus thick, chewy versus crunchy), but I also think anyone would like this one.

Just look at how thick they are!

The problem I've had in the past is the cookies flattening out in the oven and/or while cooling on racks. I tried many suggestions (again, thank you internet): chilled butter, melted butter, chilled pans/beaters, more baking soda, etc. Nothing worked. In this case, I think it's the combination of cake flour and bread flour which gives you a nice, thick cookie with amazing texture. And also the fact that you are supposed to let the dough chill in the fridge for 24 hours. Make sure you do that!

And don't skimp on the salt - I've always put a good amount in any version I've made because salt enhances the flavor of the chocolate.

Try them for yourself! Recipe is below and linked.

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/091crex.html?_r=1&

Yield: Recipe says 18 5-inch cookies. I made mine only slightly smaller and ended up with over 36.

1. Sift together:
     2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
     1 2/3 cups bread flour
     1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
     1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
     1 1/2 teaspoons salt (preferably kosher or something coarse)

2. In separate bowl, cream together until very light (about 5 minutes):
     1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
     1 1/4 cups light brown sugar (I suspect dark brown would taste good too.)

3. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, to butter/sugar mixture. Mix well after each.

4. Stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.

5. Add flour mixture all at once. Mix on low until just combined (recipe says 5-10 seconds, I needed 30).

6. Toss in 1 1/4 pounds chocolate (I used a combination of Hershey's Special Dark and Ghiradelli 60% dark). Mix carefully until distributed in the dough.

7. Press plastic wrap against the dough and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Dough may be kept in the fridge up to 72 hours. (We tried this - cookies were still tasty!)

8. For baking: Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop golf ball-size mounds of dough onto baking sheet. (I molded them in my hands a little.) Sprinkle with kosher or sea salt (optional). Bake 15-18 minutes until edges are golden brown but middle is soft. (Personal preference applies - feel free to under- or over-cook.)

9. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies onto another rack to cook completely. Or just eat them straight out of the oven.

From The Oven: Peppermint Marshmallow Bars

One of my impulse buys over the holidays was a bag of peppermint marshmallows. I had never seen them before and was intrigued... what would they taste like? How minty would they actually be? Then the question turned to "What do I do with all these marshmallows?"

A quick recipe search online led me to this recipe > http://allrecipes.com/recipe/deluxe-chocolate-marshmallow-bars/

It sounded like a good base for some experimentation.

Changes I made were:
- Use of peppermint instead of regular flavored marshmallows (obviously)
- Omitted the cocoa powder from the cookie base
- Added oats to the cookie base
- Omitted the peanut butter and rice cereal from the chocolate topping (peanut butter doesn't go with peppermint, at least not for me, and we were out of rice cereal)
- Halved the recipe and used a 9x9 baking pan

Overall, a delicious recipe. The cookie base ended up rising more than I expected, so I will halve the ingredients for that portion the next time I make these. Andy really liked them, and he was hesitant at first.

Now I have to figure out what to do with the other half of the bag of marshmallows. Suggestions?

2012 - Let's Recap, Shall We?

2012 was a crazy busy year for us. Can you tell by how behind I've been on this blog? So let's do a quick recap before we jump into 2013.

January - We had one good snow, but the rest of the winter was extremely mild!

February - Andy was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society and presented one of his attending physicians with an award.

March - We participated in the Chiditarod, a shopping cart race / food drive. It was so warm, the tulips came up two months early!

April - I went to my second Bulls game as a work event. Stefanie and Dave visited and we did an awesome food tour / cooking class!

May - We spent almost the entire month in Peru.

June  - A graduated from medical school! His parents got the best cake ever to celebrate. And we closed on our first home - a condo!

July - We painted the condo and moved in.

August - A got a grill and we built a door.

September - We picked a peck of apples and visited New Mexico with A's family. We also went to the Jelly Belly factory in Wisconsin.

October - Was so busy, we don't have many photos! We installed our Gator wall in the office. The show Chicago Fire filmed on our block. We also finally switched out the hallway lights for something which actually lit up the dark hallway!

November - We roasted turkey legs for Thanksgiving and had a party for A's birthday. Orion started playing with toys like a normal dog!

December - We can see the CTA Holiday Train from our balcony! We chopped down a tree, built a gingerbread house in the form of Sears Tower, and visited my family over Christmas.

It was a pretty amazing year. We'll see if 2013 can beat out 2012. (And I resolve to be better at blogging about it!)