Best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER!!

Several years ago I came across an article online in the Charlotte Observer entitled "The Sainted Cookie". Being the cookie lover that I am, I printed it immediately! If I am not mistaken, I have seen this recipe quite a bit on the Internet over the last few years....apparently it was found by someone doing a review on the best cookies and traveling to several bakeries in NYC. This was the recipe they found and it won hands down. The article does go into more detail about different options on how long to let the dough rest and how much of a difference it makes in the end result. Now I must say, this is all from memory, as I mentioned I found this back in like 2008!! So I could be a little off, but either way, these are by far the best cookies I have EVER made!

The recipe is quite intense, using many more ingredients than most.
Here it is and it notes it is adapted from Jacques Torres.
-2 cups minus 2 tablespoons of cake flour
-1 and 2/3 cups of bread flour
-1 and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
-1 and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
-1 and 1/2 teaspoon of coarse salt
-1 and 1/4 cups of unsalted butter
-1 and 1/4 cups of light brown sugar
-1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
-2 large eggs
-2 teaspoons of natural vanilla extract
-1 and 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate discs or bar chocolate, at least 60% cacao
- Sea Salt
OK, so I do this recipe as described, except, when it comes to the chocolate, I usually do half a bag of dark chocolate chips and half a bag of milk chocolate chips.
1. Sift the flours, baking soda and powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
2. Beat the butter and sugars with a mixer until very light, about 5 mins. Add eggs on at a time, mixing well after each. Stir in vanilla
3. Reduce speed to low and add in dry ingredients and mix until combined, 5 to 10 sec.
4. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate without breaking. Press plastic wrap over the dough and refrigerate 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches and can be in fridge for up to 72 hours** I did not put in the fridge for more than about an hour and I only used half the amount and froze the other as this makes about 4 dozen gold ball sized dough balls.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. You can line the pan with a baking sheet or parchment paper, I did neither and they came right off the pan.
6. Scoop mounds of dough onto baking sheet.
7. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt (to me this is what makes a HUGE difference in the taste- I love sweet and salty together). Bake  18 to 20 mins. I actually checked them at about 10 in my oven and they were PERFECT. So for your first batch, I would keep an eye out depending on your oven.
8. Transfer and let cool
ENJOY!!!!
I made these about two weeks ago for some family I had in town and they were gone in about 10 mins. I saved about 24 balls of dough and they are in the freezer ready to come out at dessert time over Thanksgiving and I am not gonna lie, I am ready for another one...or ten!! ;)

Enjoy-

Chocolate Chunk, Heath Bar and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

This week was one of my co-workers anniversary! I knew that I was going to be meeting her for the first time in person and we were going out to lunch, so what better way to introduce myself with a sweet treat for after lunch! She had mentioned how much her husband loves sweets, as do I! Cookies are one of my favs and I wanted to really sweeten up a basic chocolate chip cookie, so I added in heath bar pieces, dark chocolate chips and chocolate chunks I had left over from the ganache I made last week!! DELISH! Oh and of course my cookies are not complete without a little of sea salt sprinkled on top! Recipe Below! Enjoy-

Highly adapted from Hershey's!

1- 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 sticks of butter
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
3/4 cup of packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 eggs1
I then added in about 1 cup of Hershey's Dark Chocolate Chips, about 1 cup of Heath Bar English Toffee Bits and about 3/4 cup of Hershey's Chocolate Chunks

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees
2. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add eggs, beat well. Gradually add in flour mixture, beating well. Stir in chips/bits.
3. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8- 10 mins ( I did only 8 and they turned out perfect- for my liking that is- crispy edges and chewy center) Cool completely. Makes about 5 dozen.

Updated Oatmeal Cookies..Betty Crocker spiced up a bit!

So last night I was woken up by my sweet little pup having a bad dream. I am a pretty light sleeper, so it takes me a while to fall back asleep, especially when I start thinking...and of course last night I was thinking about my cookies and thought they really could have used a little more chocolate! So early this morning I decided to melt the remainder of the chocolate chips in a double boiler, added a little cinnamon and some sea salt, as I love the sweet and salty combo and dipped the edges of each cookie in the mixture...check out the pics below!!! OMG so delish!!! Enjoy--

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Betty Crocker Style! ;)

One of my very best friends is coming to visit me this weekend and I am really looking forward to the weekend..we have lots of things planned, which is in total Melissa fashion...and this visit has given me yet another reason to make something yummy! As I took a look around my kitchen to see what I had, what I could make and what would be a crowd pleaser, I realized I had all the ingredients for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, one of my favs!

So off to the Internet I went to search my favorite sites and I came across more than I could handle...there are so many crazy new ideas for cookies out there. And then I thought to myself, why not just stick with the basics this time....and then Betty Crockers web page popped up and who better for back to basics is Betty Crocker! The recipe makes about 3 and a 1/2 dozen plenty for me and a few extra for my friend who is coming to visit, ha oink oink! Check out the recipe and pics below and enjoy-

1 1/2	cups packed brown sugar
1	cup butter or margarine, softened
1	teaspoon vanilla
1	egg
2	cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/2	cups Gold Medal® all-purpose or unbleached flour
1	teaspoon baking soda
1/4	teaspoon salt
1	cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz)
1	cup chopped nuts, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir brown sugar and butter until blended. Stir in vanilla and egg until light and fluffy. Stir in oats, flour, baking soda and salt; stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
2. Onto ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart.
3. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies

Chocolate, Chocolate and White Chocolate Chip Cookies!

This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend...and for me, that means 4 day weekend!! Wooo hooo, it is much needed that is for sure. My brother is on his way into town and we have lots of fun things planned. One thing I did not really want to be doing while he was here was baking, so I needed to get that out of the way tonight before his arrival. We are heading to a very close friends BBQ/Pool party on Sunday and what better treat to bring but fresh made cookies!

I always make regular chocolate chip cookies and don't get me wrong, they are one of my favs, but this time I wanted to try something new. While searching through some of my favorite recipe sites I came across these chocolaty chocolate chip cookies and lucky for me I had everything in my pantry to make them! Of course I had to try one, and I must say they are quite delish. They are super chocolaty, but I ended up adding some white chocolate chips as well. Check out the recipe and pics below and I hope you enjoy-

Adapted from All Recipes.com

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-I/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Quiche and Cookies...and new babies! ;)

This past Friday I had made a plan to go and visit my good friend Chelle to see her new little one Isabella! I of course thought all week about what I could make and of course taste on my visit with her as well;) I ended up deciding to make a quiche, salad and cookies, yum de lum!. After searching around on my favorite site http://www.foodgawker.com/ I found the quiche that looked delish and can you believe somewhat healthy. Most recipes for quiche call for several eggs and lots of heavy cream..but not this one! Thanks to the blog Lemon Drop, I found a fabulous recipe! I did change a few things though. One, I did do this in a premade pie crust so I could leave the leftovers with Chelle and her family, two, I added in tomatoes, goat cheese, rosemary and just topped with Swiss. It turned out super yummy, so yummy Chelle and I ate almost the whole quiche!

Now there was no way I could come without dessert, so as I was looking through some old recipes and trying to find these chocolate chip cookies, that although take hours to make, were so worth it, I ended up finding a recipe from Cooking Light! I again made a few changes by taking out the peanut and adding in white chocolate chips. They were super tasty and even better knowing they were not bad for us!

So overall it was a fantastic night with great food, great company and the cutest little girl ever:)

If you try any of the recipes, hope you enjoy and let me know what ya think-