By FCM

September 1, 2008 9:11 AM | Link to this

The column/blog brought a smile to my face. It has long been a joke in my family that I could not bake a cookie for a million dollars! Seriously, all the measuring, the percise weight, etc is lost on me and cookies. Now, I can bake a cake, pie, bread, etc with the best of them. Cookies…decidedly not.

Add to that that Cookies (especially Chocolate Chip) only taste good right from the oven with a cold glass of milk. Well, I don’t eat a whole bunch of cookies at home. Those Chunk Chocolate chips in cookies are nasty…I want the tiny Nestle morsels.

All that said, I go so far as to plead, beg, bribe, etc my Mother to make me cookie dough. She makes the absolute best Nestle Chocolate Chips cookies in the world…other people tell her that! If I am very lucky (and the stars align) she will make the dough, wrap it in wax paper ‘logs’ so that I can do cut and bake cookies. This stuff can be frozen for later use, but like your testers I find that keeping in the fridge and baking over 2 weeks makes them perfect. I actually bake them in my toaster oven so its not like I heat an oven just for a few cookies.

Now, if someone could tell my Mom how to make those Oatmeal cookies that are SOFT in the center, like they make at Great American Cookie Co I will be in heaven!

By LSP

September 2, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this

After the recipe was published in the NYT, I hosted a girls night out at my house. The featured dish was the chocolate chip cookies.
They are exquisite! Crispy around the edges, soft in the center, cookie dough that was tasty-not too sweet or too buttery.

I definitely think the cookies benefitted the dough “aging.” I also liked the discs versus chips or chunks. Lastly, I think the sprinking of salt on top really set off the sweetness.

While I won’t be making them weekly, they are an exceptional cookie, and stored well also.

By Stacey

September 2, 2008 1:47 PM | Link to this

I hadn’t seen this recipe before but I might try it one of these days. I’m just afraid that I might now have the willpower to allow time for the dough to rest! LOL

I usually bake “drop” cookies such as chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin or peanut butter. My secret to making them soft instead of crispy is to add an additional 1/4 cup of flour to the batter. I bake “press” cookies around Christmastime but that’s pretty much the only time. My son likes to help me make “rolled” cookies just because he like using cookie cutters. I hate rolling out the dough so we only make them once or twice a year.

FCM…We are exact opposites. I can bake cookies and brownies in my sleep but can’t bake cakes to save my life! The only exception is a Fresh Apple Bundt cake. My pies taste good but are ugly. I usually just do cobblers since they have a more “rustic” look than pies. I LOVE homemade bread and rolls but have never attempted to make them. I buy yeast once a year or so and let it sit in my pantry until it expires. My sister bakes rolls all of the time and she has cautioned me that yeast goes flat after the expiration date so I just through it out and buy more (that I still don’t use).

By JohnKessler

September 2, 2008 3:16 PM | Link to this

hey, Jeannie- Could you find the chocolate doohickeys at Whole Foods?

By Jeanne Besser

September 2, 2008 4:49 PM | Link to this

John, yes, well sort of. I found chocolate discs in the cheese dept. that weren’t the exact % chocolate that they recommended, but still worked well. The packaged Whole Foods dark chunks in the baking department are also really good for making chocolate chip cookies and my friend used those when making the recipe.

By anne

September 3, 2008 8:30 AM | Link to this

I’ve read the NYT article. I’ve watched Alton Brown’s program on cookies. Sorry, I don’t understand this discussion.

I use the same recipe I’ve been using since I started baking chocolate chip cookies over 40 years ago. It came from the back of the Nestle’s chocolate chip package. The only change I’ve made is to switch from crisco to butter-flavored crisco. My cookies have always had a crisp edge and bendy center. People ask for the recipe all the time. No refrigerating overnight, no fancy-schmancy recipe with special flour and special chips, just tried and true and basic.

By LK

September 3, 2008 12:39 PM | Link to this

If you’re having trouble finding the chocolate discs, try one of the Cook’s Warehouse locations. I’ve gotten them there before. They carry the Sharffenberger (sp?) brand - which is incredibly good.

By Sugar

September 3, 2008 2:58 PM | Link to this

NO ONE can match my Mom’s Chocolate chip cookies. I have NO idea how she makes them, but man o’man she can make a mean cookie!!!! Her neighbors BEG her to make them…..

By wisegirl,

September 3, 2008 11:56 PM | Link to this

hey,Balance,This is not a political blog however,it suppose to be chocolate cookies little out of balance there.

By Becky

September 4, 2008 8:13 AM | Link to this

I’d say “Balance” is way off base, but I guess they were looking for a way to get people to read their blog…

By Tyrone Biggums

September 4, 2008 5:25 PM | Link to this

That NY Times recipe is fantastic! I’ve made them 6 times (for various groups of friends and families)…and every single time, the group decided it was the best cookie they’ve ever had. The key is using high-end chocolate!! Splurge, don’t buy the cheap supermarket chocolate.

By Phil

September 4, 2008 6:38 PM | Link to this

As a guy, I love to bake. I recently came across a new chocolate chip cookie recipe that my family absolutely loves better than any other. The secret ingredient in these cookies is a couple of boxes of dry instant vanilla pudding mix. Somehow these cookies come out more chewy and soft and stay that way for days.

By Andrea

September 4, 2008 10:32 PM | Link to this

Once the weather cools down, King Arthur Flour has lots of chocolate discs to choose from.