cookie stack
Originally uploaded by southeast star.

Today wasn’t going very well. I was stressed: I had wanted to get an early head start on my grocery shopping, so I was out of the house by 9am. Went to three supermarkets, only to discover they were still closed. Dang it! Took a wrong turn at Fort Bonifacio and found myself heading to God-only-knows-where on C-5. Finally got to a supermarket but had parking problems. By the time I got home, I started having delusions about eating something chewy-crispy good to assuage my unsettled state.

Chocolate chip cookies are one of my feel-good foods, along with brownies. I can never stick to one recipe since I’m always trying new ones out searching for that Holy Grail of both treats. (I actually think that I’ve found the ultimate recipe for both brownies and chocolate chip cookies, but I can never leave well enough alone). I usually prefer my cookies soft and chewy and medium-sized. Today however, I decided that I wanted them crispy and large.

Cookies are usually easy enough to manipulate so that you can get the texture you want. It’s just a matter of balancing your wet and dry ingredients. Crisp cookies have more flour and make use of vegetable shortening, which makes for a crunchier cookie than one made with butter. Crispy cookies utilize white sugar instead of brown sugar, since the latter has more moisture. Crispy cookies are made from a thicker, heavier dough, and spread more, due to baking soda as its leavener (if you want your cookies to spread more, try up to 1/4 teaspoon more baking soda, which also helps in browning). Baking is in part a drying-out process, so it makes sense that the longer a cookie is baked, the more crisp it will become. Just don’t over-bake, otherwise you’ll get nothing but burnt hockey pucks. Not fun.

As you can see from the picture, these are mammoth cookies worthy of a mondo cookie craving. They measure 4-inches across, and despite their thickness, are still crunchy and packed with chocolate chips, toasted walnuts, and oatmeal.

I enjoyed these the old-fashioned way — with a glass of cold (skim) milk. Had to balance out the calorie intake, since I ate three of these babies in one sitting. (!)

Chocolate Chip Cookies For A Stressful Day
adapted from Diner Desserts

makes 23 4-inch cookies

1¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) vegetable shortening
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk (I used skim, but feel free to use low-fat or whole milk)
1½ cups oats
1½ cups chocolate chips
1 cup (4 ounces) walnuts (or nuts of choice), toasted and coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Set aside 2 cookie sheets.

Sift together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and shortening until creamy, about 2 minutes in this blasted Manila heat. Add sugars, and beat for 1 minute or until fully incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add vanilla. Mix. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in milk.

On low speed, add flour and mix only until you don’t see any more white specks of flour. Detach bowl from mixer. Add oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts to the batter and mix gently but thoroughly with a wooden spoon or a large spatula. Don’t use the mixer because you’ll mash the chips and crush the nuts. Ouch.

Use a large size ice cream scooper or a ¼ cup measuring cup (again, your choice depending on how large you want your cookies). Place mounds of the dough about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet, making sure not to crowd them. These cookies won’t spread much.

Bake the cookies for about 12-15 minutes, or until they’re brown and set around the edges. The tops will still be puffy and soft.

Let cool on cookie sheets for ten minutes and then transfer the cookies to a wire rack or plate. Do not stack the cookies on top of each other while warm or they will become soggy.

Related Post:

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Experiments