Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

IMG_2523I love to bake. And my family loves when I do. Over the years I’ve tinkered with recipes and tried to make them my own. And these cookies are probably everyone’s all-time favorites. Yes, they’re a sweet treat. But when made with all-natural and/or organic ingredients, they’re a little bit of good-for-you decadence we all deserve. I’m not a professional Nutritionist, but I’ve compared my ingredients to Tate’s, which are the one store brand I’ll actually buy. My estimate is 80 calories a cookie. 

IMG_2454Ingredients

Organic Whole Wheat Flour, 1 cup

Organic Unbleached Flour, 1 cup

Fine Ground Sea or Kosher  Salt, 1 tsp

Organic Baking Soda, 1 tsp

(Organic) Baking Powder, 1/2 tsp

Organic Unsalted Butter (Kate’s is my favorite), 2 sticks, chilled

Organic Brown Sugar, 1 cup (packed)

Organic Cane Sugar, 1/2 cup

Large Eggs, 2 (free range from happy chickens preferred!)

Organic Vanilla Extract, 1 tsp

Blend of Bittersweet/Semi/Milk Chocolate Chips, 1 1/2 cups (My preferred chocolate chips are Scharffenberger, Guittard and Whole Foods 360. I keep a canister of pre-mixed chips on hand at all times. They are great to add to a scoop of ice cream or gelato, too.)

This recipe makes about 2 1/2 dozen medium-to-large cookies.

IMG_24601. Sift together dry ingredients and set aside. (BTW: I love Oxo’s stainless measuring cups and magnetic nesting measuring spoons.)

IMG_24712. Cube chilled butter and add to bowl of stand mixer. (I LOVE my KitchenAid and have had it for almost 20 years.) You can also chill the bowl ahead of time, especially if it’s a hot day…or kitchen.

IMG_24743. Blend butter and sugar together. I start out on low speed, gradually go to medium and then quick. You don’t want ingredients to go flying out! On my mixer it’s 1 to 2 to 4. You want to blend until light and fluffy, approximately 2 minutes. You should also scrape down in between changing speeds.

IMG_24774. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down bowl in between. Don’t overmix.

IMG_24805. Add vanilla and blend until just mixed in.

IMG_24856. Add in dry sifted ingredients, 1/3 at a time and blend on low-to-medium speed. Again, scrape down in between and don’t overmix.

IMG_25017. Add chocolate chips 1/2 cup at a time, mixing in by hand with a stiff spatula or spoon.

IMG_25038. Cover with plastic wrap or wax paper and chill in fridge for at least 2 hours (or even overnight).

IMG_25179. Set oven for 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, scoop dough and place with generous spacing between each. I like to use an ice cream scoop for this and do 2 sheets at a time. Once oven is ready, bake for 10-12 minutes. I recommend setting your timer for 10 minutes, checking for done-ness, rotating baking sheets if needed, and then going for whatever extra minutes you need. (Timing is really up to your oven type (gas/electric/convection), as well as your cookie “done-ness” meter. My family likes cookies that are lightly browned and crunchy around the edges.)

img_2518.jpg10. Leave cookies on the baking sheet for about a minute, then transfer to a cooling rack. (And try not to eat one!)

IMG_253711. Serve ’em up!

MAKE AHEAD TIP

If you don’t need to make all the cookies at once…before chilling, put an 8-10 ” long log-sized amount on a sheet of wax paper. Wrap that up, then wrap that in aluminum foil. (Looks like a burrito!) I like to label with cookie name and baking temp, especially if I’m doing several recipes at once. Stow them away in the freezer and slice-and-bake whenever you want to serve up a little something special.

Let me know if you give this recipe a try…and what you think!

Photos by Chris & MP Allegaert

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