It’s been more than a minute since I last posted… life takes over, and blogging takes a backseat. It’s fitting that a Chocolate Chip Cookie would be the impetus for writing a new post. My “buy cookbooks for comfort” rationalization kicked in a couple of weeks ago, and after careful deliberation, I bought not one but TWO cookbooks. I’m getting better, though. I borrowed both from the library, tried a couple of recipes, and THEN made my purchase. I call that progress.

Fat + Flour

The last time I was in Los Angeles, we stopped by The Grand Central Market in Downtown. In its current iteration, the market has become a food hall that attracts locals and tourists alike. My first stop is Egg Slut for a breakfast sammie or SLUT, a perfectly coddled egg on top of a dollop of potato puree served with a slice of toasted baguette. Yummylicious. As soon as I am done, I get in line at Villa Moreliana for their mouthwatering tacos. All things pork is their specialty, and I debate an “every part of the pig” combo or a carnitas taco. You can’t go wrong with either.

Much to my chagrin, it was too early for Fat + Flour, Nicole Rucker’s Pie Shop/Kiosk, I’ll have to wait until my next visit to sample her cookies and PIE. The next best thing, a recipe from her book, Fat+Flour. The photo of her Fat & Gooey Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Pecans screamed pick me, pick me. A great choice.

The cookies remind me of Levain’s Chocolate Chip Cookie, big, chunky, chock-full of chocolate and pecans (recipe for a Levain knock-off here) . A little less “scone-y”, a bit more cookie-like in texture, chock full of nuts, and 2 types of chocolate-delicious.

The Game is Afoot, Sherlock

Let’s break it down.

Flour: I turned to the ingredients page of the book and noticed that the brand of flour is not mentioned in her book. So I googled flour + Nicole Rucker, zippo-nada. The only remark I came across was to use a good, quality flour. I recalled that Jessie Sheehan had interviewed Nicole on She’s My Cherry Pie. Jessie, a lawyer by trade, leaves no stone unturned when breaking down a recipe with her guests. Bingo, she asked what kind of flour Nicole uses, and ta-da, King Arthur flour, mystery solved.

Chocolate: Recipe calls for milk chocolate and bittersweet chunks. Intensely chocolate, if kids are in the mix, use semi-sweet in place of bittersweet. The choice is yours; try different combinations, if you wish.

Nuts: She calls for pecans, which are soft and buttery. Vary the nuts if you like. Walnuts would be a nice change.

Process:

Here is the big one. CBM or Cold Butter Method. Her trick is to start with cold butter and blend it into the flour. Much like pie dough, start with cold butter, diced, and add to dry ingredients. Mix until it resembles coarse meal, then add your egg and vanilla. Mix just into the dough comes together. That’s it. Yields a tender, delicious cookie. No need to wait until the butter softens to make your cookies. That’s a win in my book.

Cookie Size, Word to the Wise: The recipe calls for shaping the dough into 6 cookies. Yeah, that’s some ginormous cookies. I portioned the dough into 9 cookies, each about 30 grams, and ended up with good-sized cookies. The takeaway is to invest in some quality ice cream scoops to portion out cookie dough and get a scale for goodness’ sake; it makes life simple.

Finish: Once the cookies are scooped and placed on baking sheet, press reserve chocolate and pecan pieces into each dough ball before baking. Trick of the trade that adda bling to your cookies.

Check out my Instagram reel for these cookies. Enjoy!