I'm having lunch with some friends today and am bringing the dessert-my bewitching cookies! I named them that because they're like magic for your taste buds ;) Before I give you my recipe I want to share with you a few tools that have made baking cookies more fun and less stressful for me:
-Big and heavy aluminum foil (I never cook right on the pan-it's too much clean up business for me!)
-Large cookie sheets (Ikea has some nice affordable ones)
-Mixing bowls that are not very heavy, easy to clean, and easy to hold onto-I love the Oxo soft grips bowls!
-A sturdy, silicon spatula instead of a mixing spoon
-Mixing bowls that are not very heavy, easy to clean, and easy to hold onto-I love the Oxo soft grips bowls!
-A sturdy, silicon spatula instead of a mixing spoon
-An ice cream scoop or "disher"
-A sturdy cookie spatula (Oxo makes a really great one-works well with grilled cheeses too!)
-A cooling rack(s)
-A cooling rack(s)
Ok so first thing's first! Ingredients:
-1/2 cup of softened salted butter (I zap mine in the microwave for about 50 seconds)
-1/2 cup of softened salted butter (I zap mine in the microwave for about 50 seconds)
-1/2 cup of white sugar
-1/2 cup of light brown sugar
-1 egg
-A little less than 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (it's not enough to make it super cinnamony, but it adds that little tasty kick)
-1 and 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
-1 and 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
-1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
-1 Tablespoon of hot water
-1/4 teaspoon of fine salt (table salt is just fine)
-1 and 1/2 cups of MILK CHOCOLATE chips
-1 and 1/2 cups of coarsely chopped walnuts
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and get to creaming that butter, white sugar, and brown sugar together. Next add in your egg. When the egg's fully mixed in add your cinnamon. Mix together the baking soda and hot water in a little dish using a spoon and then add it into the batter. Next add in your flour, then your chips and walnuts. Foil a large cookie sheet (don't fold down the foil-let it be) and scoop rough balls of dough onto the sheet. Once your tray is filled (these don't spread too much so I usually put them pretty close to each other) use your fingers to push the dough down lightly.
Bake your cookies for about 7 minutes. These will be done when you can see the tops and bottom edges are light brown. After you take the pan out of the oven, hold the top right corner and bottom left corner of the foil in your hands and drop the foil from a few inches above a flat surface. Let the cookies sit for a minute and then move them with a cookie spatula onto your cooling racks. After a few minutes the cookies will be crunchy on the outside and a little gooey on the inside. My recipe makes about 12-15 cookies. Note: When the cookies have cooled, store them in a zip top bag or air tight storage container to keep them from getting stale.
Enjoy feeling clever when you've bewitched your friends with these ;)
