Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
Previously I chronicled the baking of rainbow cookies, but it occurred to me that something as complicated as all that might be a bit intimidating to someone who is just thinking about baking for the first time. In the hopes that I might make baking seem more accessible to a first time baker, here is a brief run through of a much simpler recipe that anyone should be able to try.
This is really simple. Just follow the recipe on the back of a bag of Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chips.
You will need flour, sugar, salt, eggs, butter,vanilla extract, baking powder/soda, walnuts, and the chocolate chips.
OK, pay attention carefully, because this is really neat. If you want to have crunchy cookies, use more white sugar than brown sugar. Conversely, if you want chewy cookies, use more brown sugar than white, or add molasses (brown sugar = white sugar+molasses). The molasses helps the cookies retain moisture, resulting in a chewier texture.
If you want your cookies to be puffier, use more baking powder instead of baking soda. Baking powder is baking soda with cream of tartar added, which supplies its own acid source, blah blah blah, puffier cookies.
It is best to play with your ratios of white/brown sugar and baking powder/soda until you get a form and texture which you find most pleasing.
Cream the butter and sugar together (the crystals of the sugar kind of cut the butter apart, resulting in a creamy texture), and then mix in all the wet ingredients, and then all the dry ingredients, saving the walnuts and chocolate chips for last.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (trust me, or don’t and suffer for it), and lay out the cookies, leaving room for them to expand radially as they bake.
Bake the cookies. Leave them in a little longer if you are going for a crispy batch, or cut the time on the mark if you are trying for a chewier variety. Achieve chewiness as I described by controlling your sugar, not by under-baking the cookies. Chewy cookies rock; raw cookies are not as good as either straight cookie dough or properly finished cookies, so it is just a waste of either time or effort, or possibly both.
Let the cookies cool, and then eat them. Cooling is important, because the melted chocolate will burn you, and also stick to whatever it is burning (i.e. you).
I think that most people will find this to be a very accessible recipe, perhaps more so than the rainbow cookies or something elaborate like that, so I hope that this might encourage someone to give baking a try on their own. You also don’t need to write anything down, or remember anything, since you can just go to the grocery store, grab a bag of chocolate chips, and check the recipe on the back of the package to see whatever else you need.
I welcome any questions, comments, or concerns.
Recipe:
Citation: This base recipe is identically the one appearing on the back of a bag of Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chips. I learned the thing about the white versus brown sugar and baking powder versus baking soda from Alton Brown.
2.25 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup softened butter
0.75 cup granulated sugar
0.75 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat your oven to 375F. Beat the softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl until it is creamy (an electric mixer helps a lot). Add the eggs and beat well. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix to combine until smooth. Add the chocolate chips and chopped walnuts (or whatever else you want) and stir until a uniform distribution is achieved. Put the dough in little (about 1 tbsp) round clumps onto parchment paper on the baking sheet, allowing for sufficient space for cookies to spread while baking. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown color is achieved. For a giant pan cookie (i.e. blondies) allow for a longer baking time (20-25 minutes for starters) at lower temperature (start with about 350F).
Add ½ cup of cocoa to batter for chocolate chocolate chips cookies. Increase the brown sugar at the expense of white sugar, or add molasses, to make the cookies chewier. White sugar yield crispy cookies.
Yield: Maybe 40 or so cookies, depending on size.