Sweet Inspirations When Assistant Test Kitchens Director Rebecca Kracke Gordon stirs up one of her special creations, we come running. Crisp and buttery, rich and gooey, big batch or small-one versatile recipe for Ail-Time Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies delivers them all. Store cookie dough in an airtight container or zip-top plastic freezer bag, and chill up to three days or freeze up to six months. For slice-and-bake cookies, shape dough into logs, wrap in parchment paper, and place in zip-top plastic freezer bags. Allow frozen dough to thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Another option is to use a small icecream scoop to shape dough into balls; place on a baking sheet, and freeze until firm. Transfer frozen balls to a zip-top plastic freezer bag. Remove as needed and bake right from the freezer, allowing two to three minutes extra baking time.
Flavor Cravings All sorts of goodies can be added to Rebecca's recipe to create other signature cookies. Here are a few of our staff favorites.
* Chocolate Chip-Pretzel Cookies: Prepare recipe as directed, beating in 2 cups coarsely crushed pretzel sticks with morsels.
* Cranberry-White Chocolate Cookies: Substitute 1 (12-oz.) package white chocolate morsels, 1 (6-oz.) package sweetened dried cranberries, and 1 cup pistachios for chocolate morsels. Proceed as directed.
* White Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Cookies: Prepare recipe as directed, beating in 1 (7-oz.) bag white chocolate-covered mini pretzel twists, coarsely crushed, with morsels.
* Almond-Toffee Cookies: Substitute 6 (1.4-oz.) chopped chocolate-covered toffee candy bars and 1 ½ cups toasted slivered almonds for chocolate morsels. Proceed as directed.
* Turtle Cookies: Substitute 1 (y-oz.) package milk chocolate-caramel-pecan clusters, coarsely chopped, and 1 (12-oz.) package dark chocolate morsels for semisweet chocolate morsels. Proceed as directed. Note: For testing purposes only, we used Nestlé Turtles.
* Nutty Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies: Decrease salt to ½ tsp. Decrease morsels to 1 (12-oz.) package. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter with butter and sugars, and add 1 cup lightly salted peanuts with morsels. Increase flour to 2 ½ cups plus 2 Tbsp. Proceed as directed. (Dough will look a little moist.)
All-Time Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies
MAKES ABOUT 5 DOZEN; PREP: 30 MIN., BAKE: 14 MIN. PER BATCH, COOL: 15 MIN.
Bake 10 minutes for a soft and chewy cookie or up to 14 minutes for a crisp cookie.
¾ cup butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 targe eggs
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
1 ½ (12-oz.) packages semlsweet chocolate morsels
Parchment paper
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Add eggs and 1 ½ tsp. vanilla, beating until blended.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl; gradually add to butter mixture, beatingjust until blended. Beat in morsels just until combined. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
3. Bake at 350° for 10 to 14 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Remove to wire racks, and cool completely (about 15 minutes).
What's Cooking? We'd love to try your favorite recipes. For each one we publish, we'll send you $20 plus a copy of the Southern Living Annual Recipes cookbook in January. Please e-mail recipes to sLfoodedit@time1nc.com.
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