I absolutely MUST share this cookie recipe with you all. My Mom (Plain Ole Vanilla) took it from the King Arthur Flour blog and shared this on her own this past March but…it simply must be shared again!
This cookie is a staple in our house. I make it every Monday so that my dad can have his customary two cookies included in his bagged lunch and so that my Mom can treat herself to one at every afternoon coffee break. I love these cookies for their simplicity and versatility. (I should state that they aren't my favorite cookie because of their taste, but because of the ease of the whole process.)
My blog readers know that I like to play with my food before I cook it, experimenting and tampering until I get the ingredients to behave my way. Naturally, it should come as no surprise that each time I make this recipe I have endeavored to make it a new way, every time. Time number one I made them “plain” according to the recipe. Or at least I thought I did, although I accidentally left out the brown sugar and produced a flatter cookie (leave in the brown sugar people). I guess that counts as an adaptation despite the fact that is was unintentional. The following Monday I threw in coconut and slivered almonds. Yummy. The third cookie-day I felt an unexplainable desire to satisfy my inner poet by combining coffee grounds (decaf) with toffee bits to produce a “Coffee-Toffee” cookie (which unfortunately did not live up to the desired coffee flavor but was good all the same). When babysitting two weeks ago the Oldest Boy and I made this recipe, leaving out the vanilla and adding a splash of oatmeal. It wasn’t too good of a combo. Oatmeal cookies need to be more oaty and less floury. The lift in this cookie is too much and seems out of place with an oatmeal cookie. But I digress. Fourthly, I tried a maple pecan version buy substituting maple extract for the vanilla and throwing in a handful of chopped pecans. (By now you would think our family would be obese. I assure you we are not). This was delish and one of the best adaptations so far!!
My most recent experiment needs to be christened a name that speaks of the power…something like “Chocolate Explosion.” No, really. It contains pulverized chocolate chips (thanks to the Cuisine Art), whole chocolate chips , and toffee bits! Yeah baby!!! I’ll admit I went a little far and added too much of the chocolate chip dust (1 1/4 Cup), but on the whole, the effect was nice. (Dad said he would eat it again so that’s good)
Whatever you decide to do, to play it safe or mess around, try this cookie. Try it with my “add-ins” suggestions or dream up some of your own. I can’t give you any exact measurements for the “add-ins.” I cook by feel and I expect you to embrace your freedom and do the same!
Dream on~ Bake on~ Eat on
Basic Drop Cookies
1/2 cup butter
This cookie is a staple in our house. I make it every Monday so that my dad can have his customary two cookies included in his bagged lunch and so that my Mom can treat herself to one at every afternoon coffee break. I love these cookies for their simplicity and versatility. (I should state that they aren't my favorite cookie because of their taste, but because of the ease of the whole process.)
My blog readers know that I like to play with my food before I cook it, experimenting and tampering until I get the ingredients to behave my way. Naturally, it should come as no surprise that each time I make this recipe I have endeavored to make it a new way, every time. Time number one I made them “plain” according to the recipe. Or at least I thought I did, although I accidentally left out the brown sugar and produced a flatter cookie (leave in the brown sugar people). I guess that counts as an adaptation despite the fact that is was unintentional. The following Monday I threw in coconut and slivered almonds. Yummy. The third cookie-day I felt an unexplainable desire to satisfy my inner poet by combining coffee grounds (decaf) with toffee bits to produce a “Coffee-Toffee” cookie (which unfortunately did not live up to the desired coffee flavor but was good all the same). When babysitting two weeks ago the Oldest Boy and I made this recipe, leaving out the vanilla and adding a splash of oatmeal. It wasn’t too good of a combo. Oatmeal cookies need to be more oaty and less floury. The lift in this cookie is too much and seems out of place with an oatmeal cookie. But I digress. Fourthly, I tried a maple pecan version buy substituting maple extract for the vanilla and throwing in a handful of chopped pecans. (By now you would think our family would be obese. I assure you we are not). This was delish and one of the best adaptations so far!!
My most recent experiment needs to be christened a name that speaks of the power…something like “Chocolate Explosion.” No, really. It contains pulverized chocolate chips (thanks to the Cuisine Art), whole chocolate chips , and toffee bits! Yeah baby!!! I’ll admit I went a little far and added too much of the chocolate chip dust (1 1/4 Cup), but on the whole, the effect was nice. (Dad said he would eat it again so that’s good)
Whatever you decide to do, to play it safe or mess around, try this cookie. Try it with my “add-ins” suggestions or dream up some of your own. I can’t give you any exact measurements for the “add-ins.” I cook by feel and I expect you to embrace your freedom and do the same!
Dream on~ Bake on~ Eat on
Basic Drop Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar, light or dark, packed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 tablespoons milk, optional
2 cups chips, nuts, and/or dried fruit, optional
Directions
Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets, or line with parchment.
2) Beat together the butter, sugars, salt, vanilla, baking soda, and baking powder till well combined.
3) Add the egg, beating till smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl, and beat again till smooth.
4) Add the flour, mixing it in completely.
5) If you're making cookies using chips, nuts, etc, beat in the milk, then the add-ins.
6) If you're making plain cookies, without add-ins, omit the milk.
7) Drop the cookies by the traditional "tablespoonful" (actually about 2 measuring tablespoons) onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2" apart. A tablespoon cookie scoop works well here.
8) Bake the cookies for 14 to 16 minutes, until they're a light golden brown, and a bit darker around the edges.
(I would highly suggest checking your cookies at 1o minutes. I've seen several blog comments saying the 14-16 minute window was too long. I must admit that I never get my timming perfect on my cookies. I have baked them to 14 and they have survived.)
9) Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the baking sheets.
No comments:
Post a Comment