Dylan & Erica’s Place…

My wonderful husband got me a cookbook for Christmas and it has nothing but cookies in it.  Its really neat.  Well on Sunday I asked Dylan what he wanted me to make out of this cookbook.  His choice.  I was certain it was going to have mint or peanut butter in it.  YUCK! I hate mint.. I hate peanut butter so I was thinking its not going to be a cookie I want.

Well I was wrong.  He decided to pick this cookie called, chocolate chip cookes in a cookie.  The recipe says this cookie is a cookie for all cookie lovers.  The lovers that love crisp chocolate chip cookies and the lovers who love soft chewy chocolate chip cookies.

This recipe is simple.  You make a batch of cookie dough.  Some of the cookie dough is baked into crisp cookies.  Then these cookies are cooled and mixed into the remaining unbaked dough and then baked together.

The result, a soft and chewy cookie with crisp pieces of cookie throughout the whole cookie.  My favorite cookie of all time. They were so good that less than 24 hours after they were baked, my cookie jar looked like this..

Twice Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies, Adapted from Elinor Klivans, 2005

2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups chocolate chips, semi sweet

Preheat oven to 350. Position oven rack in the middle of the oven. Line 2 sheets of baking sheets with parchment paper. One will be used later.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until blended, about one minute. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing until it is incorporated, Mix in the chocolate chips.

Drop 10 heaping tablespoons (about 3 level tablespoons of each) of dough 3 inches apart onto one of the prepared baking sheets. Set the remaining dough aside. bake until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned but the centers are golden, about 13-15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Line the baking sheet with a clean piece of parchment paper.

Break the cooled cookies into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces.  Add the pieces to the reserved dough and mix on low speed just to distribute them evenly, about 10 seconds.  Using an ice cream scoop, scoop mounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until they feel firm on the top but are still soft in the center and the edges are beginning to brown slightly, about 15 minutes.  Cool the cookies on the  baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

I love cookies.  Nothing is better than a glass of milk and a hot warm soft cookie.  Whats my favorite?  Good question. Chocolate chip? Well that is good, however its a little too plain jane for me.  Chocolate chip oatmeal? Oh well those are delicious, but I wanted something different. I had some cranberries in the pantry that I needed to get rid of  therefore, chocolate chip oatmeal cranberry walnut cookies evolved in my kitchen.  They were delicious.  So soft.  So yummy.  They were so great Dylan ate AT LEAST a dozen.  I kid you not.  At least a dozen!  When I asked him where they all went, he smiled, and pointed at his belly and then he went upstairs to the treadmill.  And to make this even better is the fact that Dylan doesn’t even like cranberries! He claims you can’t taste them.  I think he just realized he likes cranberries.  One day everyone should ask him about his cream cheese adventure and if he likes cream cheese.

Enjoy these cookies with a nice cold glass of milk.  Oh and if you are trying to stay on your New Year Resolution.. Try making the cookies smaller and just eating one with skim milk.

Chewy Cranberry Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Adapted from here

1 ½ cups  All purpose flour
1 tsp Baking soda
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Ground cinnamon
2 ½ cups Old fashioned oats
2 sticks Unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 cup Packed light brown sugar
½ cup Granulated sugar
2  Large eggs, beaten lightly
1 T Honey
2 tsp Pure vanilla extract
6 oz Dried Cranberries
5 oz Chopped pecans about 1 cup 3 oz Mini chocolate chip morsels about ½ cuo

Directions:

• Oven to 350 degrees F.  Line sheet pans with parchment.
• Mix the dry ingredients together, then stir in the oats. Set aside.
• Beat the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs, then scrape down the bowl; add the honey and vanilla and beat until blended.
• Add the flour mixture in two additions, beating each until well combined.
• Stir in the cranberries and pecans and chips.
• Drop by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart on parchment lined sheet pans.
• Bake until the centers of the cookies are soft and no longer look wet; about 11-13 minutes.