Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookies-Take Two
The search continues for a thin, crispy chocolate chip cookie just like my grandmother use to make. My first try was a Tate’s Chocolate Chip Cookie facsimile by that guru of American desserts, Stella Parks. While absolutely scrumptious-buttery, caramelized, slightly chewy in the middle with crispy edges, they just weren’t my grandma’s cookies. So…
I took a different tack
I googled, buttery, crispy, thin cookies, leaving out the chocolate chips. Surfing the Pinterest pics that popped up, I came across a photo for Crisp Almond Cookies from Chocolate, Chocolate, and More. It looked promising. The cookies were thin with golden edges and a light, flat, center. They looked a whole lot like my Pau Pau’s cookies but without the chocolate.
So I made the recipe for Crisp Almond Cookies and added mini chocolate chips to the dough. The recipe is straight forward, classic cookie making protocol. Cream the butter and sugar, add eggs, dry ingredients, nuts and finally fold in chocolate. Tips for this particular recipe include soft butter (not melting) and room temperature eggs since you want the cookies to spread. Once again I used a tablespoon ice cream scoop to portion out the dough leaving 2-3 inches between each scoop.
The Grandma Test
These cookies looked a lot more like my grandma’s cookies. These were crisper than Stella’s and buttery, without the caramelization. (My test group actually LOVED the caramel flavors of the Stella Park cookies) I think the inclusion of almonds lightened the cookie and make it less chewy and a touch crisper, again more like Grandma’s. I liked them a lot, definitely getting closer to ground zero for Pau Pau’s cookie. I will try it with walnuts next time since that is the nut she used in her recipe. I don’t think it will change the texture but may add that characteristic walnut flavor. The use of baking powder instead of baking soda also reduces browning. It didn’t make these cookies cakey, which you might expect.
I arbitrarily added 1 cup of mini-chips to the dough. I didn’t want to overwhelm the cookies with chocolate. I ended up with more than 3 chips a cookie but I think Grandma would be okay with a bit more chocolate. I would not put more chocolate. In fact, I might decrease the amount to 3/4 cup in the spirit of her cookies. You could substitute a good quality chocolate sprinkle instead, a suggestion from my kid- the Sprinkle Cookie King. The recipe makes quite a few cookies but luckily you can easily half the recipe.
Crisp Almond Cookies with Chocolate Chips
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups butter softened (337 g) (salted butter)
- 1 cup light brown sugar 200 g
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200 g
- 2 large eggs room temp
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 10 ml
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 280 g Use a moderate protein flour like Gold Medal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder 4 g
- 1/8 teaspoon salt 0.7 g If using unsalted butter increase salt to 1/2 teaspoon
- 1 cup finely chopped almonds 112 g
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips sub good quality chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
- Cream together butter and sugars, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add in eggs and vanilla and beat again.
- Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to dough, one third at a time until all added. Stir in almonds.
- Fold in chocolate chips
- Using a small cookie scoop (1 tablespoon), place dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet three inches apart (these cookies spread.) Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 8-9 minutes. Until edges turn golden. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to racks to cool completely.
Notes
The search continues…but we are headed in the right direction.