Tag: chocolate chip cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies as Stress Busters

Chocolate Chip Cookies as Stress Busters

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Whoa, Nellie, it has been a crazy 12 weeks. I knew with a second Trump term, the guardrails that were in place during his first term would be gone, but did I think we would get to Def Con 5 so quickly? Nope.  TFG has brought out the absolute worst in folks.  I underestimated how many sycophants and folks there are willing to sell democracy down the river for a fist full of dollars and a pocket full of power.

Apolitical-Smaypolitcal

I know a few of you are probably thinking, Gurl, stay in your lane; this is supposed to be a food, travel, and sports blog.  We can’t ignore what is happening in our country. Has there ever been a person more woefully unqualified to be a president?  Devoid of the temperament, decency, and intellect it takes to be in public office, any office for that matter, even dog catcher.  At this moment,  he and Elon Musk, I’ve coined them the Douche and Doge Bro, are taking a sledgehammer to everything we hold dear, public education, public libraries, National Parks, Public Lands, and federal agencies like the NIH, FDA, FBI, DOJ, and Homeland Security.  He has fired career non-partisan civil servants and replaced them with hacks.  A complicit GOP Senate has installed woefully unqualified and corrupt nominees to lead all our institutions.

What a nightmare.  All under the guise of waste and fraud in the government and an anti-DEI policy (racism).  Tell me how firing Inspector Generals who oversee waste and fraud works to eliminate…waste and fraud 🤦🏻‍♀️.  They are dismantling our system to privatize it and put money into their grubby little hands.  Not to mention the cruel, illegal, indiscriminate mass deportation of folks to El Salvador, which is basically like sending folks to hell. NO due process?

Gettin’ Judgey With It

Though the SCOTUS has been bought and paid for, there are still judges, even Republican-appointed ones, who are trying to stem the tide.  They know these outrageous, unjustified firings are illegal.  This is how unserious the current administration is.  50 years of progress is being dismantled under the guise of anti-wokeness and anti-DEI.  A vindictive slash-and-burn policy is not a tool of governance.  It is wielding power with a scepter of cruelty.

Hands Off Protest New York City

What Can I Do?

There is a sense of helplessness that has come from this massive attack by the rich on everyday Americans.  There are steps we can all take to hopefully stem the tide, save Democracy, and counter that feeling of hopelessness.  Take action, we are the ones who will save democracy, this is empowering. So let’s get to it.

Engage in our political process and do some research and reading on your own.  Join grassroots political organizations in your area.  Create a network of folks to whom you can bounce things off and who will provide sanctuary for you.  Start with Indivisible and find your local chapter. Fight the fight you are passionate about. If you are in Los Gatos, check out TWW Los Gatos, a local group under the Indivisible banner.

Call your representatives.  Use 5calls.org, the app finds your reps by your address and provides scripts and guidance on issues to call on.  Your rep  needs to hear from you.  Go to their Town Hall meetings or demand that they have one during the recess.  All we have is our voice and our vote; use them both.

Rallies, Protests, and Marches.  A single voice is not heard, a hundred voices are barely a whisper, but a million voices are loud and clear.  Show up.  Do it for your family and friends.  Bring them along.

These are stressful times. Don’t forget to take time for yourself, your family, and your friends.  We are in this for the long haul, so breaks are required to rejuvenate.  Balance is necessary.

Who You Gonna Call? Stressbusters

In between calling reps, attending rallies and political meetings, I de-stress by BAKING, cooking, rowing, and venting.  The perk of letting me vent to you in a post,  a recipe to make something to delicious nosh on while having to listen to me.  I recently picked up the cookbook from the team at Republique in LA; it was on sale and contained their amazing Buko Pie (Coconut Cream Pie) recipe.  Before tackling the pie, though, I made her Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I’ll get to the pie yet.

Chocolate Chip Cookies AKA Constitutional Crisis Cookies

The instructions are clear, and the photos of the finished cookies and other recipes in the book are gorgeous. These fall into the category of classic chocolate chip cookies.  No nuts, just chocolate pieces surrounded by a buttery, crisp-edged, slightly chewy, soft, center cookie.

That’s enough, the batter should not get to the fluffy, light stage.

The key to these cookies is not creaming your butter and sugar too much. My mantra for these cookies is don’t overmix and don’t overbake!  Err on the side of less time in the oven.

More Tips

I used my big-ass Kitchen Aid mixer to make these cookies.  Trust me, you don’t need to.  Less is more.  The problem with my behemoth mixer, it is way too easy to overmix.  I find this true for quick breads and cakes, too.  The theory is all that horsepower inadvertently leads to beating too much air into the batter, causing it to deflate and sink.  It screws with the structural integrity and weakens it.  Try making these cookies by hand or with a portable hand mixer to avoid over beating.

This dough is ready to be scooped.

The Process

The recipe specifies a #40 scoop.  I love details like that.  Conversely, if you don’t have one, it is equivalent to 2 tablespoons of dough, roughly 30- 35 grams in weight.  Finally, err on the lighter side if you reserved chocolate pieces to press into each dough ball.

Make sure to chill the dough thoroughly.  These will spread and result in a pretty thin cookie; chilling stops it from too much spreading.  For a thicker cookie, add a tablespoon of flour to the recipe, but try it as is first.

Pull out your hand-dandy round cookie cutter or a glass.  Some of the cookies will spread unevenly while baking.  As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, use the round cutter to corral the cookie into a circle…this is for y’all with ORCD (obsessive round cookie disorder).

Watch the cookies like a hawk; the edges should be golden brown, and the middle should not look shiny.  It will look soft and slightly underdone.  Take the cookies out and let them rest on the sheet until cooled.  This is subjective; cooled can mean still warm but easy to handle cause who can wait till they are absolutely cool?  Then devour.  Everyone needs a cookie in the middle of a hostile government takeover.

These are thin and delicious cookies.  If you like thicker cookies, reminiscent of Mrs. Fields, try these.  Soft and chewy? I swear by these.

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République’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Another Chocolate chip cookie recipe, cause you can never have too many. From the Republique in LA, a crispy-edged, tender, chewy center cookie with dark chocolate pieces-that is it, no nuts, no nothing else, just plain delicious.
Course cookies
Cuisine American
Keyword buttery, chocolate chip cookie, chocolate pieces, drop cookies, Republique
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

  • 1-1/3 cups plus 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour 175gms
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda 5 gms
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Creamed Mixture

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter 110gms pliable but still cold
  • 3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp light brown sugar 130 gms
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar 100 gm
  • 1 large egg

The Star

  • 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp chopped dark chocolate 150 gms 60% to 72% cacao

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Sift the flour into a bowl and set aside.
  • Place the butter and both sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the mixture on medium speed until just incorporated—but no longer. Scrape down the bowl, add the baking soda, salt and egg, and mix until just incorporated. Feel free to make the dough by hand or using a portable mixer, less chance of over mixing.
  • Add the flour to the butter mixture all at once. Again mix until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate just until evenly distributed. Reserve ~12 pieces of chocolate to press into the top of each cookie dough ball. This insures you will have a nice piece of chocolate showcased in each cookie.
  • Using a #40 (2 oz) ice cream scooper, scoop the dough onto a small baking sheet lined with parchment, press a piece of chocolate in each one, then wrap with plastic wrap, and chill overnight. This helps prevent cookie spread, it is still a pretty thin cookie.,
  • Remove the cookie balls from the refrigerator and bake until the edges are crispy and golden, 8 to 10 minutes. (Bake for less time if you like your cookies chewy and longer if you like them crispier.) Cool on the baking sheet or serve warm. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Notes

The scooped dough can be frozen until solid and then transfer to a resealable plastic bag and kept in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Bake straight from the freezer adding a minute or two/

 
I’m Gonna Shoyu a New Chocolate Chip Cookie

I’m Gonna Shoyu a New Chocolate Chip Cookie

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I know you all know I am a city girl at heart.  Give me skyscrapers, bridges, cars, museums, and bright lights any day.  Not that I don’t appreciate mountains, forests, and nature, but I prefer the urban jungle.  Whenever we get the chance, we head into The City for the day, Chinatown, the Ferry Building, and Hayes Valley are my favorite areas to wander around.  There is always something going on.  Last weekend we headed to the City for the Hallyu exhibit at the Asian Art Museum.  A look at Korean culture & K-Pop that has taken the world by storm. (Check out my video on IG, for a glimpse at the exhibit).

Lucky for us, the Asian Art Museum also hosted its annual Artisan Fair that weekend.  They had a variety of vendors including crafters, cosmetics, books, and food.  I rarely leave empty-handed.  One of my favorites is the Taiwanese soy sauce from Liv Cook Eat.  Brewed with black soybeans, these soy sauces are sweeter with a nice rounded flavor.  We are hooked on both their Finishing Soy and Delicate Soy.  They’re a bit pricy but we are worth the splurge. LOL.  Next to the soy sauce sat a row of  Soy Sauce Infused Chocolate Chip Cookies by Eating with Edmund.  You know I had to try one.  The cookies were delightful, crispy-edged, buttery, and chocolatey. The flavor was nuanced and subtle.  It leaves you wondering, what is that mellowness in this cookie?  I think it’s the soy sauce.

Soy Sauce Me Up

Soy Sauce:  This is a classic chocolate chip cookie with a tweak, the soy sauce.  Although any soy sauce would work there are distinct differences between soy sauces.  Liv Eat Cook is Taiwanese and is made with black soybeans. It has a richer, rounder flavor than soy sauce made in China or Hong Kong.  It usually has sugar which makes it a touch sweeter.  Chinese Soy Sauces generally have more sodium, so a bit saltier.  Use Dark Chinese Soy Sauce (Lao Chou) which is less salty than the light soy sauce and has a touch of molasses as a sub.  Japanese soy sauces are generally lighter, and a touch sweeter.  I assume that would be fine. Tamari would work also.

Flour:  The OG Cookie from Eating with Edmund was soft and delicate.  I increased the flour by 10% (330 grams) for a sturdier cookie.  If I browned the butter, I would use his original 300gms of flour since moisture is lost when browning butter.  Browned butter would give the cookies a nice toasty flavor, worth a try.  I used King Arthur flour AP which has a higher protein content than Gold Medal. If using GM flour I would increase the amount of flour by 5-10%.

Sugar: Light or dark brown sugar will work.  I used light brown sugar.

Chocolate:  Chocolate chips can be used but I prefer chopping up a bar.  Mainly for presentation, different-sized & shaped pieces seem to look better. Reserve enough pieces to be pressed into the surface of each dough ball right before baking.  Puddles of chocolate on the surface of each cookie, a nice look.

Toffee:  Toffee and soy sauce complement each other.  I used TJ’s Toffee Bars, chopped into pieces for 1/2 of the chocolate.  Delish.

Bang-a-Pan;   A couple of minutes before the cookies finish baking, rap the pan to deflate the cookies to create ridges. Optional.

The Swirl:  Chocolate pieces, toffee, and marshmallows tend to melt and ooze creating funny-shaped cookies.  No worries, invest in a 3-4 inch round cookie cutter (or a glass will work too).  As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, place your round cutter over those cookies and swirl, voila’ perfectly round cookies. Of course, if you don’t mind them not being perfectly round…skip this step!

The Finish:  I love finishing these cookies with a sprinkle of flaked salt like Maldon.

Enjoy!

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Soy Sauce Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Eating with Edmund, Soy Sauce Chocolate Chip Cookies. Buttery, crisp, delicious chocolate chip cookies with a soy sauce twist.
Course cookies, desserts
Cuisine Asian-American
Keyword chocolate chip cookie, soy sauce, soy sauce chocolate chip cookies
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

Creamed Mixture

  • 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar 150 grams
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar 165 grams
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons Liv Cook Eat Finishing Dark Soy Sauce or your favorite dark soy sauce
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract optional

Dry Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur Flour) 300 grams
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Adds

  • 1 cup bittersweet dark chocolate chips, chunks, or chopped
  • 1/2 cup Chocolate Toffee bar, I use TJ chocolate toffee chopped, sustitute for 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips (optional)
  • Sea salt flakes like Maldon for sprinkling on cookies

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375F and line baking sheet with parchment paper
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda and set aside
  • In a separate bowl cream together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, soy sauce, and (optional) almond extract
  • Add eggs one at a time to the wet mixture and cream together
  • Add 1/3 of the dry mix into the wet at a time and fold together. With the last third of the dry mix, add in the chocolate & toffee if using. Tip: Careful not to overmix or you’ll end up with tough cookies. You can be a tough cookie, but don't want to eat one.
  • Use a medium cookie scoop (#40) or ~roll 2 tablespoons of cookie dough into balls with spoons and place on a lined baking sheet, min of 2 inches apart
  • Bake at 375F for 8-10 minutes
  • Remove from oven, sprinkle with flaked salt and swirl with cookie cutters to bring them into round.

Notes

Suggestions for best results with more complex flavors and textures:
Chop bars of baking chocolate into chunks
The varying sizes of the chocolate chunks and flakes incorporated into the cookie make every bite unique
Brown the butter ahead of time! Melt the butter in a small pot until it turns a deep amber color. Stir and scrape the bottom/sides constantly to incorporate the milk solids. Let cool and solidify to room temp
The browned butter makes for a nuttier, more complex flavor profile
In the Big Apple, Dim Sum & Then Some…Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies

In the Big Apple, Dim Sum & Then Some…Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Yay. Back to my second favorite city in the world…New York.  In the immoral words of Tony Bennett, I left my heart in San Francisco and it will always be first.  But wow, New York, I love you.  Every time I return to this amazing city I am in awe of its energy.  The number of people that converge to live, work and play in Manhattan, all at the same time, is intimidating but oh so amazing.  Blaring horns, wailing sirens, screeching tires, rumbling subways trains, people yelling, music playing, dogs barking, the sounds of vibrant, urban life.

Home Away From Home

We are staying in LES (Lower Eastside) which exemplifies NYC.  We are within walking distance of neighborhoods that represent every economic strata.  Much like San Francisco, it is not unusual to walk a couple of blocks in any direction and see, homeless folks on the streets, millennials with their backpacks or totes making their way to the FiDi, the down and out struggling with addiction, to folks decked out in designer wear enjoying a latte and 8 dollar croissant.

The Daily Grind

We walk Moose to Chinatown to pick up breakfast, rice roll noodles filled with bbq pork and veggies, slathered with chili oil, peanut sauce, and hoisin.  Sitting on a stoop we wash it down with Milk Tea.  The next morning a walk down Ludlow finds us at my favorite spot, BBF. I pick up a coffee and an onigiri (a generous, warm ball of rice topped with pork belly or mushrooms). Our daily walks, navigating the streets through the LES, Chinatown, Ukranian Village, and Little Italy, are all reminiscent of growing up in San Francisco.

Left top corner BBQ Pork Pineapple & Siu Mai Bun Mei Lai Wah 🥟🥟 🥟 🥟 Clockwise dim sum assortment from Royal Seafood, Big Chicken Bun Royal again 🥟🥟 🥟

I LOVE it.  Faced daily with the spectrum of life, good and bad, keeps me somewhat grounded.  I am keenly aware of how lucky I am to enjoy a life built by the hard work and struggles of those who came before me.  Dad, a Paper Son, came to this country at 16.  Gung Gung left his family in China looking for a way to support them.  Mom, the eldest of 6 kids, started her hair salon at 17 but continued to study to become a businesswoman and real estate broker.  All their hard work focused on the future and a better life.

In Search Of…

We headed to midtown today, in search of shoes.  In particular, Hokas. I have developed plantar fasciitis, so to keep doing what I love best in Manhattan, WALK.  I am searching for new shoes. Plus I can hardly shirk my Moose-walking duties since that is my “excuse” for spending time in the Big Apple.  Mission accomplished, my foot feels infinitely better in my new shoes.  This calls for a celebration…we head to the nearest Levain Bakery for one of their scrumdidilyumptious chocolate chip cookies.

On our last visit we sampled CCC in NYC, so you wouldn’t have to (tough job, somebody’s got to do it).  Our winners included Levain’s, best described as a ginormous chocolate-filled, scone-like warm cookie, and Jacques Torres’s, classic CCC and oh-so-delicious. Not surprisingly, the chocolate in his cookies is amazing.

Levain Blueberry Muffin 🥟🥟 🥟 🥟 Chocolate Chip Cookie 🥟🥟 🥟 🥟 +

The hubs tried Levain’s popular Blueberry Muffin to compare it to Hummingbird’s version, which we make at home, and honestly, our homemade one is just as good if not better.  This got me thinking, is there a recipe out there for Levain’s CCC to try so I could avoid spending 5 dollars for a cookie, lol?

Pancake Princess to the Rescue

I turned to a favorite site, Princess Princess to search for a Levain knock-off.  Not familiar with Pancake Princess?  Best described as a one-woman version of America’s Test Kitchen.  She will test a slew of different recipes, in this case, Levain CCC knock-offs, and invite tasters to help her select the best of the bunch.  Her top two included Stella Parks’s from Serious Eats, and one from Hijabs and Aprons.  I perused both and decided to try Hijabs and Aprons as they looked easier and did not require resting the dough for 12 hours before baking (total dealbreaker).

It’s a good thing I picked the simpler recipe…rummaging through our home away from home kitchen, I found a gorgeous red ceramic bowl, one big spoon and a rubber spatula, a small cookie sheet, and a tiny (almost worthless) whisk.  I get the feeling very little baking goes on here.

Tips for Baking in a Tiny, No Baking Tools Kitchen

Here we go, I made sure my butter was room temp soft but not melty since I only had a spoon. Then, ran downstairs for Guittard chocolate chips (ya gotta have decent chips), a tiny bag of Gold Medal AP Flour (4 dollars!), vanilla extract, and dove in.

Muscle through beating the butter and sugars (unless you are lucky enough to have a mixer handy in which case, don’t overbeat),  Add eggs and vanilla, then sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt over the creamed mixture.  Fold the dry ingredients in and add chocolate chips and nuts last.  Voila’ that’s it. It took significantly longer than if I had a mixer but I got an arm workout, yay. Use classic chocolate chips, not chunks, and don’t bother cutting up a chocolate bar.  These cookies depend on a nice, even distribution of chips throughout the cookie.

The OG cookies call for walnuts but feel free to use pecans or another nut.  If you like that tannic bite from walnuts, don’t substitute.  Best to make these cookies as directed, BIG, 5-6 ounces of dough.  The cookies will be crisp with browned edges on the outside but moist and buttery on the inside.  You can make them smaller but the difference between the exterior and interior won’t be as pronounced.

When scooping out dough, don’t smooth the dough into a ball.  The craggy edges give the cookie character so plop the dough on the sheet, and keep the overall shape round.

Bake until the edges are a nice deep golden brown.  Serve WARM, really, so much better warm and gooey.  I zap next-day cookies in the microwave for a few seconds to warm them up before eating.

These easy-to-make cookies will satisfy your Levain CCC craving anytime!

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Levain Style Chocolate Chip Coookies with Walnuts

From Hijabs & Aprons, a delicious Chocolate Chip Cookie that comes oh so close to Levain's famous Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts.
Course cookies, desserts
Cuisine American
Keyword chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chips, Levain Bakery
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 16 minutes
Servings 8 cookies

Ingredients

  • ½ cup butter, slightly softened 112g
  • 1 cup light brown sugar 200g
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar 50g
  • 2 eggs cold
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted 300g. (Gold Medal works)
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt or 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 cups walnuts, roughly chopped 250g , if omitting walnuts, you can add roughly 50g extra AP flour
  • 2 cups dark chocolate chips 325g Use a dark or semi-sweet that you like, I like Guittard’s chips

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 375ºF. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • In a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  • Beat the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until creamy smooth (about 3 minutes).
  • Add the first egg and beat on low-medium speed until fully incorporated. Repeat with the second egg. Add vanilla. MIxture will be soft and creamy
  • Add flour mixture to the mixing bowl. On low speed, pulse a few times to blend flour into creamed mixture. Low speed to prevent flour from exploding in your face.
  • Stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips.
  • Form and place eight 6-ounce rough/messy balls of cookie dough into your lined baking sheet. If you have a scale, weigh the dough then divide into 8-12 cookies. Each one will be approximately 4-6 ounces, as a general goal/guideline. Also, if the edges of the cookie dough ball are rough/not smooth, that’s better. I use 2 tablespoons In my experience, if you like craggly crispy tops, it’s best if you barely mush it together and smack it onto the pan.
  • At this point, if your dough seems like it has softened due to your kitchen's temperature or too much handling with hands, refrigerate the dough-balls for about half an hour before baking. Because of the relatively high flour content in this recipe, the dough tends to be pretty stiff and doesn’t require chilling.
  • Pop the pan(s) into the oven for 12-16 minutes. This time variation depends on your oven (I’m using conventional top and bottom heat, not convection) as well as whether or not you chilled your dough (and for how long). I recommend checking (look, don’t touch) the cookies every minute after hitting the 11 minute mark. Ideally, you want patches of deep golden brown and lighter golden brown.
  • No matter what, you need to let these cookies set! Similar to steak, you’ve gotta take the cookies out while they’re technically a bit undercooked, and let them finish cooking in the still-hot pan in order to achieve the cooked-but-gooey center. The amount of walnuts/chocolate chips will make it hard to really check the inside without just breaking a cookie in half.
  • If you need to reuse your baking sheet for the second batch of 4-cookies, you can do so. Just make sure the pan is clean of grease and has cooled down before you place the dough-balls on it.

Notes

FREEZING DOUGH: If you’d like to freeze the dough for later use, go right ahead! To be completely honest, I don’t know how long the dough stays good in the freezer (at least a month for sure from my own experience). Wrap the dough balls individually in plastic wrap and freeze them. You can thaw them for about 20-30 minutes prior to placing on a parchment lined sheet and baking them.
SMALLER COOKIES: The only alternative size I’ve tried for these cookies is 3oz (half of my original). I would bake them at 375ºF for 10-12 minutes. Again, the time will depend on the oven. When baking a single chilled dough ball in my toaster oven, 375ºF for 11 minutes is perfect. Any more time and the center is overbaked.
Black Sesame Chocolate Chunk Cookies from a Nerd

Black Sesame Chocolate Chunk Cookies from a Nerd

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The flavor of the day is toasted black sesame seeds.  They’re delicious-earthy, nutty, and bolder than white sesame seeds.  They add texture, color, and zing to cookies, cakes, and just about anything.  During the holidays I made black sesame shortbread, a tasty rift on shortbread. So, when Black Sesame Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cooking Therapy skittered across my feed, “so making these” was imprinted on my brain.

A couple of “what if I add this or change that” moments resulted in a few tweaks to the cookie as I was trying them. This is the latest version of Black Sesame Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

The Process

I tried both commercially bought Sesame Seed Powder (they do the grinding for you) and grinding my own sesame seeds after toasting.  Most recipes call for seeds that you measure out and then grind to a powder.  The dilemma is how much powder is equivalent to whole sesame seeds.  I weighed half cup of seeds and then half a cup of powder. Powder weighed 40gms,  1/2 cup of seeds weighed 60gms.  Hmmm, for some reason I thought powder being more compact, would weigh more for an equivalent volume. Guess not, bottom line, go by equivalent weights you can’t go wrong BUT that’s 30% more powder or a cup and a half of powder to 1 cup of seeds. My head is about to explode.  Think I’ll just use equivalent volumes.

The first tweak was adding toasted sesame oil, I didn’t notice a significant flavor difference.  Maybe I should have added more.  If you have made Jesse Szewczk’s Toasted Sesame cookies (phenomenal cookie), or Sarah Kieffer’s Sesame Cookie, both use sesame oil to pump up the flavor.

Tahini Paste was the next tweak.  In place of the sesame oil, I added 1 tablespoon of Tahini Paste.  In a stringent scientific experiment, my test cohort (co-workers, lol)  concluded the they could taste the sesame flavor in these.

Looking for a flatter, less cakey cookie, I weighed the amount of flour and stopped at 250gms.  This is where I tell you, implore you, to get a SCALE…

And an ice cream scoop!

A Google search led me to a blog called Crazy for Crust which had an entire section on how to tell when you cookies are done. There is nothing I like more than baking nerds!  For instance, the tendency for me is to bake just a little too long.  Her invaluable tip-when the glossy sheen or wet look is gone and the edges are golden brown, your cookies are done is now my mantra for drop cookies.

Out of the Oven

Cookies continue to “bake” for about 20 minutes after removing them from the oven.  A “just right baked” cookie will fall as it cools creating those lovely crevices.  If you prefer cripsy, round cookies, continue to bake for a couple of minutes,  or if you like raw cookie dough take the cookies out a little earlier.  Your choice, me? I’m like Goldilocks, I want it just right.

Use chocolate chunks, pastilles, or break up chocolate bars/slabs into pieces.  Much more visually interesting than chips.  to go the extra mile, reserve some of the chocolate pieces and place 1 or 2 on each formed cookie dough ball before baking.

Cookie Monster Would Approve

Less flour, Tahini paste and Fleur de Sel to finish the cookies, resulted in a tender, gooey, chocolatey, sesame-y cookie with a bit of crunch from the sesame seeds.  Put this on your bucket list.

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Black Sesame Chocolate Chip Cookies

A chocolate chip cookie with toasted black sesames for a new twist on an old favorite!
Course cookies, Dessert
Cuisine Asian-American
Keyword black sesame seeds, Chewy Toasted Sesame Cookies, chocolate chips, Sesame chocolate chip cookie, sesame seeds
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Calories 244kcal

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

  • 2 cups all purpose flour (King Arthur flour) 250gms
  • ½ cup black sesame seeds, powdered I measured toasted black sesame seeds, 1/2 cup = 60gms. I used black sesame seed powder 40gm which measured 1/2 cup in volume. See notes.
  • 1 tsp baking soda

Wet Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, browned
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1.5 tsp toasted sesame oil or 1 tablespoon Tahini paste

Adds

  • 1 ½ cup dark chocolate chips sub semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Combine flour, sesame powder and baking soda in a medium bowl. Mix until combined and set aside.
  • Brown butter in a small sauce pan. Heat butter over medium high heat until the butter melts and then lower it to low. Cook the butter until golden brown and small brown solids start to appear. Remove from the heat and set aside.
  • Combine granulated sugar and light brown sugar in a large bowl. Add the brown butter. Whisk with a stand mixer or hand mixer until just combined.
  • Add the eggs and whisk until a smooth creamy mixture forms. Add the salt, vanilla extract, and sesame oil or Tahini paste and mix until just combined.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix with a spatula/wooden spoon until just combined.
  • Add chocolate chunks and mix until just combined.
  • Let the cookies rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a 2 tablespoon (medium-sized) cookie scoop to scoop cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are light brown.
  • Rest for 10 minutes on the baking sheets and then another 10 minutes on a cooling rack before serving.

Notes

So, I have commercially available toasted black sesame powder and I have toasted black sesame seeds.  I decided to try both to see how much it impacted the texture of the cookies.  I weighed the toasted sesame seeds and whirled them in a grinder.  I stopped at a pretty finely textured powder.  If you go too far you will end up with a paste. 
There wasn’t a significant difference in texture between the two.  The sesame does give the cookie a rougher texture, similar to adding a bit of cornmeal, but subtler.
The self-ground sesame seeds to powder cookies seem to have a touch more flavor but I did also switch out the sesame oil for Tahini paste, so it remains to be seen if the seeds were the difference.  I just failed my science class, lol.
Thin, Crispy, Gooey, Chocolate Chip Cookies-Get It On, Bang a Pan

Thin, Crispy, Gooey, Chocolate Chip Cookies-Get It On, Bang a Pan

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I have been a slouch when it comes to holiday cookies this year. LUCKY FOR ME, Jamie is home and baking up a storm…I get the difficult task of eating and posting about whatever deliciousness she has baked up.

I had all this planned of course.  My copy of Sarah Kiefer’s 100 Cookies finally arrived which I then strategically left on the kitchen island in full view. Heh, heh, heh.  The book is a beauty both in content and style.

She took the bait. Flipping through the book, Jamie landed on the Neopolitan Cookies exclaimed “so making these”.   I kept nodding enthusiastically with every cookie she mentioned.  We loved the Neapolitans, buttery, chewy,  flavored with vanilla, strawberry, and cocoa.  These are definitely going in the rotation.  The Smores Bars were labor-intensive but worth the effort. Imagine a blondie base, coated with chocolate and topped with a layer of toasty homemade marshmallow fluff.

Despite the many CCC recipes we have, her Chocolate Chip Cookies and the pan banging technique proved irresistible.  All we can say is make room for this bad boy in your chocolate chip cookie file, it’s that good.  The cookies are thin, crisp-edged yet soft in the center.  They’re dotted with chopped dark chocolate bits and finished with a sprinkle of Fleur de Sel.  The dough is sweet so don’t skip the Fleur de sel and definitely use dark chocolate for balance.

You should be running to your kitchen now to make these.

Pan-banging

No, not headbanging which is what I have been doing all year, it’s been that kinda year.  I first came across pan-banging in Sarabeth’s Bakery cookbook (a beautiful cookbook)  Sarabeth’s Kitchen is a New York institution known for their breakfasts, jams, and baked goods.  Her version of Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Clouds, calls for rapping the pan on the oven rack with a couple of minutes left in baking.  This causes the cookies to deflate and develop their signature cracks.  I adopted this rapping the pan for several of my drop cookie recipes including the Oatmeal Apricot Cookies from Dahlia Bakery.  Love the way cracks and crevices look in drop cookies.

Sarah takes it to a whole new level, by repeatedly banging the pan in 2-minute intervals, you get these super cool circular ridges that look like a tree’s age rings.  The cookies bake thin and flat, they spread quite a bit, so plan on about 5 cookies per baking sheet.

So take your 2020 aggressions out by making these pan banging chocolate chip cookies and end up with beastly cookies. Win-win.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies (100 Cookies)

From 100 Cookies Thin and Crispy, Ridged Chocolate Chip Cookies
Course cookies
Cuisine American
Keyword chocolate chip cookies
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 hours 14 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (284 grams) Gold Medal AP Flour will give you better ridges
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ½ pound unsalted butter (227 grams) 2 sticks, room temperature
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (300 grams)
  • ¼ cup brown sugar (55 grams) dark brown preferred
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (170 grams) about 60 percent cacao solids, chopped into coarse pieces, bits and shards. We used TJ's Pound Plus Dark Chocolate
  • Fleur de sel or Maldon Salt, for sprinkling

Instructions

  • Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper
  • In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium until creamy about 1 minute. Add the granulated and brown sugars and beat on medium until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla and 2 tablespoons water, and mix on low to combine. Add the flour mixture, and mix on low until combined. Add the chocolate and mix on low into the batter. (At this point, the dough can be refrigerated for several hours or overnight.)
  • Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Form the dough into 2.5 ounce (~70 gram) balls (#24 ice cream scoop 1/3 cup each). Place 4-5 balls an equal distance apart on pan.
  • Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake 7 minutes, until the cookies are puffed slightly in the center. Lift the baking sheet and let it drop down against the oven rack, so the edges of the cookies set and the inside falls back down. (This will feel wrong, but trust me.) Bang it down, if necessary, to make the center fall.
  • After the cookies puff up again, 2 minutes later, repeat lifting and dropping the pan. Repeat a few more times, every 2 minutes, to create ridges around the edge of the cookie. Bake 13 to 14 minutes total, until the cookies have spread out, and the edges are golden brown, but the centers are much lighter and not fully cooked.
  • Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and sprinkle with Fleur de sel or Maldon salt. Let cool10-15 minutes before removing the cookies from the pan.
  • Repeat with remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

We used a #24 ice cream scoop, ~2.5 ounces and baked for 14 minutes.  The original recipe calls for 3 ounces of dough and bake for 15-16 minutes. 
You can use King Arthur Flour (higher protein) but it may not develop as many ridges. 
I would recommend weighing ingredients, esp flour, for accuracy.