Finished... for now

I had a little more time this week than expected, so I finished up my chocolate chip cookie try-outs. I've still got a ton of recipes, but I found an awesome recipe that's simple, delicious and holds well. My chocolate chip rampage is over... for now. But let's start at the beginning:

This week I had three variations of a recipe to try out. The first was kind of blah, but that was because I ran out of some ingredients and had to use substitutes. Not worth talking about really. The second try (with all of the ingredients) was a completely different story though. It was the only recipe I chose with melted butter rather than creamed.

And I got a camera! (well, borrowed one.)

Looks tempting doesn't it? Well, resist the urge to devour so we can reach step two! I left my trusty scoop for a regular spoon to make larger cookies.

These baked at a slightly lower temp for a little longer (325 degrees rather than the usual 350 and for 15-18 min instead of the usual 8-10.)
You'll be glad you saved some of that batter once you see these.

These cookies were the most delicious of all the recipes, but the texture was just a bit off, a little too grainy and crumbly for my tastes. So I tried the recipe again, but this time creaming the butter. And they were even better! A crisp outside to a tender, moist, chewy inside.

And below is a comparison of the two. If you want crackly cookies, just drop them from the spoon onto your cooking pan, if you're like me and like a smoother looking cookie than roll the dough into balls before placing them on the pan. (The left is the creamed butter and the right is the melted.)

Well, I'll keep on trying more of these recipes I've collected, but much more slowly and over time, rather than crammed into just a few days. Up next is either oatmeal raisin or some cupcake recipes. Hmm...

Here's the winning recipe for anyone who'd like to try it:

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup butter (salted), softened (or melted if you prefer cookies with more texture)
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 (or 1 ½ if you want really loaded cookies) chocolate chips
Oven pre-heated to 325 degrees F

1. Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
2. Cream the butter with the sugars, add the vanilla and eggs, beating until a few shades lighter and a bit fluffier (if using melted butter, just beat until completely mixed in.)
3. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended together (as in no clumps of flour,) add the chips and mix in (do this by hand with a wooden spoon if you’ve used a machine so far.)
4. Drop cookies onto non-stick/greased/parchment paper-ed baking sheet about 2-3 inches apart. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. (Those of you with temperamental ovens, remember to turn your cookie sheets halfway through baking.)

Enjoy!