post53 // dark chocolate chip cookies

friends!! happy friday! what are you getting up to this weekend? nothing? great, because i have a weekend baking project for you.

i haven’t had a true chocolate chip cookie in a minute. in preparation of my yearly christmas cookie bake with my mama, i decided to test out a new iteration of my chocolate chip cookies.

yes i know, chocolate chip cookies are a recipe well overdone and written about in blogs and cookbooks galore. but this one is different! i’ll tell you the three reasons why.

1. cremage:

in the photo above you can see how creamy this batter is. one thing i’ve learned in culinary school is to truly cream your butter and sugar together (cremage in french) to ensure a homogenous and smooth batter. this means no lumps of hardened sugars! or flour for that matter! i creamed my butter and sugar for about 5 minutes with a hand mixer for reference.

2. dark chocolate chunks:

i much prefer dark chocolate in my cookies to milk chocolate. give it a whirl! and make sure to buy chunks in lieu of chips — they’ll amp up your batter’s chocolate to batter ratio, lending to a richer, chocolate cookie.

3. dark brown sugar:

most chocolate chip cookie recipes use a balance of regular granulated sugar and light brown sugar. i love the nuttier, deeper flavor in dark brown sugar that comes from the heightened molasses in this sugar. for a dark chocolate cookie, it’s a great addition to your ingredient list.

pre-bake

post-bake

wherever you are, these chocolate chips are good to have on hand. take it from me, i’m heading up to new york today with them bundled in my bag for all my friends and family up there. i never like to visit empty-handed.

santa, are you here yet?

a couple cookies will skip the journey to new york and stay right at home, waiting for my dad to munch on this weekend. into the cookie monster they go! (fun fact: this cookie jar has been a part of my family home’s kitchen countertop for over 30 years.)

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and in this week’s other stuff!

my latest glossier obsession

lady bird was amazing!!! you need to see it asap. and rotten tomatoes just gave it the best rating of any film. ever.

this 20-minute clam chowda recipe from the wsj is a+. tbh it actually takes 30 minutes lol.

my friend greta’s mom makes some stellar traditional german christmas cookies! hoping to get a recipe soon to share with you this december.

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dark chocolate chip cookies

makes 16 extra-large cookies or 32 regular-sized

fixings

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups dark chocolate chunks

instructions

1. preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. grease baking sheets.
2. mix dry ingredients together: salt, all-purpose flour, and baking soda.
3. cream butter and all sugars (light brown sugar, dark brown sugar, granulated sugar) together, very well. for reference, i creamed mine with a hand mixer for 5 minutes. no lumps! add vanilla extract and egg.
4. fold dry ingredients into wet and mix using hand mixer for 30 seconds. then fold dark chocolate chunks in with a spatula. mix well with a spatula.
5. let batter rest in fridge for 30 minutes-2 hours (optional, but recommended).
6. spoon large rounds of batter (1 overflowing tablespoon) onto the baking sheet, leaving 3 inches of space between cookies.
7. bake cookies for 5 minutes, turn baking sheet around, and bake for 5 more minutes. (baking time will vary if cookies are smaller).