Family Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who isn't a fan of Toll House cookies fresh baked, just out of the oven?  I've tried lots of chocolate chip cookie recipes and have claimed one as my favorite.  But when I had these, first baked for my by one of my daughters, I knew I wouldn't not need to test another chocolate chip cookie recipe again.

Though I have did not strive to find a copycat recipe for Toll House cookies, this is the closest I've come, even closer than the recipe on the back of Toll House chocolate chips to achieving the taste and texture of the cookies from the big yellow tub.

I am certain the key is the browned butter. It gives the dough an extra bit of flavor and lots of moistness.   Another bonus is a slight crispy outer texture akin to the glossy topping of a chewy chocolate brownie.

I'm all about chewy cookies.  I like cookie dough, I like cookies hot out of the oven gooey, I like them to stay chewy.  My husband, and I am certain he's not the only one, is a fan of crunchy cookies.  The beauty of this recipe is you can get both from the same batch of cookies.  If you bake these for 8 minutes, you'll get a chewier cookies.  If you bake them for 10 {or as my husband prefers, 12} you get a crunchy cookie once they have cooled some.

To keep that chewy cookie texture, store any leftover {and you may not have any} in a cookie jar or other container with a lid.  There are a few other tips you may find helpful below.

Tips~

*The original recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of flour.  I cut out some of the flour and I don't mix all of the dry ingredients into the batter.  Add a bit less than 2 cups of flour mix and see what the dough is like.  To keep cookies chewy, you want a batter that spreads just a bit but still keeps a good shape when balled.
*Use a tablespoon that is heaping with dough to measure out cookie dough.  This gives you a good size, not too big but not bite size, cookie.
*Line cookie sheets with foil and do not use any spray or grease.   Cookies will slide off easy when done.
*Let cookies cool on cookies sheets for 1~2 minutes before removing from pan.  If you forget, they still come off easily but don't remove before as they may get smooshed.
*Warm cookies in the microwave for 30 seconds to get that fresh out of the oven taste!  If you don't like to use the microwave or don't have one, steam them.  Place a layer of foil in steamer basket and add cookies; steam for 30 seconds.

Family Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

original recipe from babble.com
1 c unsalted butter {2 sticks}
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
2 lg eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 c semi~sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375F.  Line cookie sheets with foil.

In small saucepan over medium~low heat, melt butter.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently until butter bubbles and foams.  Stir constantly, continuing to cook until foam dissipates and butter begins to turn golden.  Turn off heat and let butter sit and cool to lukewarm.  Butter solids will brown and settle in pan.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl; set aside.  In large bowl combine brown and white sugars with whisk, breaking up any lumps.  Add lukewarm butter and vanilla; whisk to combine.  Add eggs and whisk to combine.  Add about 2/3 of flour mixture to the sugar/butter combination.  Stir til smooth.  If dough is thick enough, do not add any more flour.  If it spreads out a bit and doesn't hold its shape, add a bit more flour mixture to moist but firm consistency.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough onto foil lined cookie sheets by rounded tablespoonfuls, leaving a few inches in between cookies.  Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes.  Eight minutes yields a chewier cookie.

New Year's Eve Countdown Cookies

Here's an easy way to add some festivity for children to your New Year's Eve~ Countdown Cookies!  I am certainly no master cookie baker or decorator but these are relatively simple {as far as shaped and decorated cookies go}.  I use a basic sugar cookie dough.  It's a great recipe to use when you will be decorating cookies with sprinkles or frosting since the dough isn't too sweet.  There are a plethora of recipes and tips out there for cookies, but I'll give you some of my own to add to them since I really suffer in the shaped cookie making department.

*When making your cookie dough, do not add all of the flour called for.  Wait and see how the dough balls up.  You may not need all the flour.  If your dough is too dry {too  much flour} the cookies will crumble.  Baking is affected by the humidity in the kitchen as well.  Just add a half cup at a time {already mixed with the baking powder} until the dough starts pulls together in a ball.
*Have cookie trays, sprinkles, cookie cutters and any other equipment you will be using ready to go before removing dough from refrigerator and beginning to roll.
*Work with half or a third of the dough at a time, leaving remainder of dough in the fridge.  Soft dough is your enemy when rolling and cutting cookies.
*Transfer cut cookies from work surface to prepared cookie sheet using a large metal spatula.  You can easily tear excess dough from around the shaped cookie after the spatula is carefully slid underneath of shape.
*Use powdered sugar on cookie cutters and spatula edges to 'flour', making removal of dough easy from cutter edges.
*Don't use leftover dough {from around the cut shapes} for more cookies.  Conserve space when doing initial cutting.
*Sprinkle cookies with sugar crystals once they are on the tray but before they are baked.  Don't worry about extra sugar crystals around the the edges.  Lightly press them into the cookies to keep in place while baking.
*Place cookie trays in freezer for 10 minutes before baking to help keep cut shapes while baking.

We save our small frappuccino and juice bottles to make festive drinking containers on such occasions as these.  Add party ribbon and curl.  The final touch is a festive straw in colors to match the occasion.

Another easy yet festive decoration is a 'clock' plate.  Any plastic plate {or inexpensive ceramic plate} will do.  Use a permanent marker to mark the numbers around the plate edge.  I found it worked best to start with 12, 6, 3, then 9 and fill in the remaining numbers.  The children will love snacking on these New Year's Eve Countdown Cookies as they wait to ring in the new year!

New Year's Eve Countdown Cookies

1 c unsalted butter, left at room temperature for 45~60 minutes
1 c white sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 1/2 c white flour
1 tsp baking powder
powdered sugar {for working with dough instead of flour}
tinted sugar crystals for decorating

Blend butter and sugar in stand mixer til grainy but smooth.  Scrape sides of bowl with rubber spatula; add egg and vanilla.  Blend well, scraping sides and bottom of bowl again to incorporate all ingredients.

In separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder with a whisk.  Working with a half cup at a time, blend into creamed butter and sugar.  Once the dough starts to pull together into a ball, remove from bowl.  Working on lightly floured surface {with powdered sugar}  shape dough into a smooth disc.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour {dough should be firm but not too hard}.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Prepare cookie sheets {I like to line with foil and spray with a nonstick spray}.  Roll cookies to 1/4" thickness.  Cut, using a bit of powdered sugar on cookie cutters to keep from sticking.  Transfer to prepared cookie sheets.  Place cut cookies, on cookie sheets, in freezer for 10 minutes before baking.  Bake in 350F for 8~10 minutes, until edges begin to brown.  Cool on cookie sheet 2 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.  Makes enough dough for about 2 dozen large {2"~3"} cookies.

I don't throw out the leftover but allow my younger children to use them for making their own sugar cookies.  They did all the rolling, shaping, cutting and sprinkling them selves and there were no worries about wasted dough or mistakes.  And a multitude of sprinkles hides any mistakes!

Cookie Nativity with Cream Cheese Cookie Dough

As a child I was often enticed into requesting a gingerbread house when I would see them at a friends or in bakery shops. I could sympathize with Hansel and Gretel. If we could have a gingerbread house in our home for Christmas, everything would be perfect. My dreams of having a gingerbread house did not come true in my childhood. The closest I came was helping a friend eat some of one her father bought for her {which was already assembled with elaborate decorations}. After tasting a bit of that dream, I was actually very satisfied that my mom had never bought a gingerbread house for us. It was a fanciful treat for the eyes, but left me not wanting to enjoy the taste of one again anytime soon. Maybe the gingerbread had too much of a licorice flavor or perhaps the icing and candies were hard and dried out. That experience helped me to realize that I would probably enjoy something a little more pleasing to kinder palates.

When I had children of my own, instead of a traditional gingerbread house, I helped them decorate mini graham cracker houses. They are easy. They are inexpensive. And they are great for parties. Just set out graham crackers, icing and candies. My children loved these. As my children have grown, they still enjoy making the graham cracker houses, but I think some of the older ones would enjoy something different.

I saw this adorable picture of a 'gingerbread' nativity. It reminded me of the graham cracker houses and I think it would be delightful for the children to make, but it actually inspired another idea. Visions of cookies cut to animal shapes and stars, I imagined a nativity scene made of cookies. And, it was quite different than a gingerbread house. Instead of the colorful decorations and heaps of frosting, I envisioned a simple monochrome scene. Something that was more peaceful instead. Any embellishments would be simple. Just a few sprinkles on the stars and and perhaps some lights as a backdrop. And the figures would be few.


I began with a soft and velvety cookie dough~ cream cheese cookie dough {see recipe at end of post}. The dough is perfect for children to work with. It has no raw eggs. It is easy to shape even without cookie cutters~ roll into balls or sticks.
I like to double the batch to have extra, especially if kids will be decorating {have a few extra cookies on hand for mistakes}.

Roll out the cookie dough, working in small batches. Cut out the stars. Place a skewer on a cookie sheet and place star at one end. Lightly press onto skewer. Sprinkle sugar crystals over top before baking.


Next, work on animals and figures. In a traditional nativity scene there are three animals {a donkey, sheep and a cow}, but I had to settle for two. I could not find a donkey cookie cutter. Use animal cutters for cow, sheep and donkey {if you have one}. For the figures, I used an exclamation cookie cutter. Just turn it around and it is Mary or Joseph in a robe or the Wise Men.


For the manger, use a round cookie cutter. After it is baked but still warm, move it to a rolling pin to cool. It will take on a curved shape. This will be place on a 'frame'.


Make a support for each piece {except the stars} in the nativity scene; the manger will need two supports. Do this by cutting a long rectangular shape divided into two triangular shapes.


Once cookies have cooled completely, work on assembling the nativity. I used a small rectangular block of Styrofoam wrapped in plastic wrap with double sided tape on the bottom and back. The tape secures it to the surfaces it will be on and against. {I set up our scene in a wall niche but it could also be set up on a table against a wall.} If desired, hang a piece of sheer material from the wall and over the table surface to hide the Styrofoam. Place the stable in front of the Styrofoam piece {you could make one from sheets of cookie dough; I used one found at Target for $2.50}. Tie a couple of strands of ribbon onto the skewers just below the star. Stick the skewer into the Styrofoam so the star is visible above the stable.


Spread fried rice noodles over the floor of the stable.


Now, work on attaching supports to back of the figures. Use any decorator frosting to 'glue' the supports on. Then set the figures in the nativity scene.


For the manger, attach two supports to the convex side.


Then fill the concave part with toasted coconut before placing the baby inside.


Adjust your figures to complete your cookie nativity scene. For the shepherd, I added a skewer to his side using frosting.



Cream Cheese Cut~Out Cookies
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 c butter, softened
1 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Using a mixer, blend cream cheese and butter together. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and cream til fluffy; it will look like icing. Combine flour and baking soda; add to cream cheese mixture and blend well.

Shape dough into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling out.

Preheat oven to 325F. Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out shapes and transfer to ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-18 minutes {smaller cut cookies such as stars will need less time, while larger ones like the trees need more} until edges begin to brown. Cool on pan for one minute than transfer to wire rack to cool completely.


Tips and Tricks~
*When working with cookie dough, sprinkle the work surface with powdered sugar instead of flour.
*To help keep pin from sticking to dough, place a sheet of plastic wrap over the dough while rolling.
*If you would like to make a traditional gingerbread house, here are some helpful instructions for gingerbread with templateshttp://www.kingarthurflour.com/baking/documents/gingerbread.pdf



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Browned Butter Toffee Cookies

One of my favorite cookies to bake and eat during holidays is toffee cookies. The crunch from the toffee and the soft chewy cookie are a great marriage of texture and flavor, a bit of contrast and a bit of similarity. Melting the butter and browning it instead of using softened butter gives the cookie a different flavor and makes this cookie something new. They are quick to put together and quick to bake.

Make some to put a little love in someones lunch or tie together for a tiny, sweet gift.



Browned Butter Toffee Bit Cookies
1 c unsalted butter
2 c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
3 1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 8 oz pkg Heath Toffee Bits

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter. After butter has melted, stir frequently to keep from burning but continue to heat for about 5 minutes, until butter turns golden-brown. Remove from heat and set aside to cool some.

Combine brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Add browned butter and whisk to combine. When butter~sugar mixture is not hot, add eggs. Whisk well.

In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Add to butter~sugar mixture and stir well. Stir in toffee bits.

Drop by tablespoons full onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for at least 1 minute before moving to wire rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container to keep texture.




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