The cookies sound fantastic and I really like her blog.

Thanks for sharing.

Nancy

Hi there, L2C46! Glad you popped in!!

I loved her hints to good cookies; some are similar to the Oatmeal Cookie blog that Eileen posted.

Thanks for sharing the link with the great hints. I have several cookie favorites with nutmeg in the recipe, but never added it to chocolate chip cookies, so now out comes the nutmeg and grater to "cash in on the butter enhancing qualities".

I'll add one more hint. If there is any enhancing flavoring/s in the recipe (such as vanilla, almond, or orange flavoring), add it while creaming the butter. The flavoring will be dispersed throughout the cookie that way. The fat helps "hold" the flavoring.

It's always fun to try new chocolate chip cookie recipes, as well as trying different kinds of chocolate. You'd hate to miss another great recipe after all....;-)

My personal preference goes towards something more substantial with oatmeal and wholegrain flour in the recipe, and my least favorite is Toll House, which most people love but I find insipid - at best. It probably comes from judging recipe after uninspired recipe of them in the Children's Division at the fair. Toll House Cookies must be a comfort food related to a childhood memory for people who love them because they miss the mark for judging standards for cookies.

-Grainlady

Grainlady, my DH would agree with you 100%!

I find those hints very helpful. Thanks for the link. Although, Jerry and I were talking about the expense of buying several different kinds of chocolate, only to use some of each in a batch of cookies. I said, well, we'd just have to make a huge batch!

Sally

I believe it is a SPAM cookie. What to do.

My go-to cookie recipe is still this recipe, that I got from the CF, from Sol, I think.

Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. On low speed, add the flour mixture, and mix until barely blended. Add chocolate chips (and nuts). Drop by tablespoons onto sheet pan and bake in a 350ðF oven, for 12-15 minutes.

My kids used to like the Tol House cookie recipe but recently it's been different. I have to believe it's a difference in butter, which was discussed on another thread here.

Grainlady, I also like a "heartier" cookie with something like oatmeal in it, chocolate chip has never been one of my favorites. I remember making "scotchies" with those butterscotch chips years ago, now I don't like those chips at all, they taste so.....fake. Gee, I wonder why, LOL.

My granddaughter's favorite cookie is molasses, which was kind of surprising to me, I don't know why. My grandson's favorite cookie is, well, pretty much any cookie you give him.

Annie

I used to love the Cook's Illustrated chocolate chip cookie, something about using browned butter seemed to add just that something I loved. The last year though it hasn't been right. I've been blaming it on the butter, since I don't notice a difference in the flour in anything else. I need to look up the thread Annie mentioned & find out about the butter.

I use too use the Cook's Illustrated method of browning the butter. I use either Kate's or Cabot butter and haven't noticed any problems. I think the browning of the butter makes a huge difference in flavor. I will try some of the other tricks mentioned in the Bravetart blog. Thanks for sharing!

My favorite is the infamous NY Times Chocolate Chip cookies, which I also make gluten free.

BTW - Bravetart is my favorite food blog. She's a fabulous writer, and was recently picked as one of Food and Wine's best Pastry Chefs.

Bonnie

My favorite came from Katie.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup rolled oats
2-1/4 cup AP flour
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup butter softened
3/4 cup brown sugar packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon juice
2 eggs
3 cups semi sweet chocolate chips (I prefer Ghirardelli bittersweet)
1-1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Grind oats in food processor or blender until fine (I actually skip this step). Combine the oats with the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla and lemon juice. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until the ingredeints are well blended.
For the best results, chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator before baking the cookies.
Spoon rounded 1/4 cup portions onto an ungreased cookie sheet Place the scoops about 2 inches apart. Bake in a 350 oven for 16-28 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle. I actually make the cookies smaller and cook them about 13 minutes, but actually, the length of cooking time is pretty well determined by your oven.

I like oatmeal with chocolate chip cookies, but I use granola instead of oatmeal and reduce the sugar a bit. You get a very crunchy cookie using granola, and I like that texture. My favorite granola for this had almonds and coconut in it, but plain is fine also. I omit cinnamon in the cookie recipe since the granola generally already has that in it.

Lars