Lovin' From the Oven

Day 3: NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

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It’s finals week and the workload is driving me crazy! It’s really such a cruel time of the year for students.. minimal sleep & maximum work. I’ve already written 37 pages of papers and still have 15 left to go. I’ve finished 2 finals, and have 2 more left throughout the rest of this week. Can we fast forward to Friday already? Yesterday, I wrote about 25 pages for a paper that was due today (we all procrastinate, it’s no surprise) and had roughly 3 hours of sleep. After driving to UCLA to turn my papers in, I was stuck in LA traffic for a good half hour or so on the streets trying to get to the freeway, only to have bumper to bumper traffic on the 405. Ugh! I hate LA traffic.

When I got back, I told my boyfriend that I had to bake something in order to relieve my stress and take a break from all this madness. He told me that I couldn’t because I had another paper to write due tomorrow and should be working on that. Granted that he was probably right, I rummaged through the pantry and pulled out all my baking ingredients, anyway. I opted for something simple because I was short on time and just needed something comforting: chocolate chip cookies. Thank goodness I did!

Day 3 of my twelve days of cookies: The infamous NY Times chocolate chip cookies by Jacques Torres (found here if you have no idea what I’m talking about). These belong in my cookie countdown because it’s such a classic! Everyone loves chocolate chip cookies & loves receiving them as well. Even though I’ve found my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, I can’t help but try new ones. There are just so many versions out there and I want to try them all! These cookies were absolutely AMAZING. The sea salt made a world of a difference, and it tasted like the Trader Joe’s cookies that you buy in a bag (theirs are amazing as well, even the vegan ones!). I replaced cake flour & bread flour for AP flour, since that was all I had on hand. I used more brown sugar than white sugar because I prefer softer, chewy cookies and swear by brown sugar. I also didn’t chill the cookies at all. I know, I’m impatient.. but I can’t help it! Regardless, they still turned out great. This might even replace my current CCC recipe. Maybe if I have the patience next time and chill them for at least 24 hours, they’ll turn out even better! Heres my version of the CCC adapted from the NY Times:

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch)

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 2/3 cups minus 2 tablespoons (17 ounces) AP flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
  • 2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
  • 1 3/4 cups light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 pounds semi sweet chocolate chunks (I used Guittard)
  • Sea salt.

DIRECTIONS:
1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and mix.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Day 2: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Day 2 of my twelve days of cookies: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies- Even though Thanksgiving is over, I can’t bear the thought of pumpkin being out of season. I mean… Why should it? It’s definitely is an essential ingredient for the holidays. Anything pumpkin always turns out cake-like and fluffy, so be prepared for that light consistency when making these cookies. The combination of chocolate and pumpkin is also divine, so you know that you can’t go wrong. These cookies made A LOT, and I only made 1/4 of the recipe. They pretty much keep their form from how you place the cookie dough on the baking sheet, so using a cookie scoop helps keep all your cookies uniform. This recipe comes from the foodnetwork, courtesy of George Duran.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 cups (12-ounce bag) milk chocolate chips, not semisweet
  • Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.

Day 1: Outrageous Chocolate Cookies

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Well, I finally did it! I bought my own domain name last night!! My website URL is now officially: https://www.lovintheoven.com and I cannot be any more excited. (I’m such a kid at heart, I know.. but little things like this make me so happy!) Thanks to everyone for following along with my blog and for all the feedback. :]

We’ve now entered the month of December, which means it’s officially holiday season. Actually, the holiday season started the moment Thanksgiving ended and the Christmas lights & trees went up. Since everyone (FoodNetwork, Betty Crocker, etc.) does the twelve days of cookies for the holidays, I thought I’d join in and make my own list. These twelve cookies that I’ll be baking throughout December will be ideal for holiday gift baskets, just in case you need ideas for what to add in yours.

Day 1 of my twelve days of cookies: I introduce to you.. outrageous chocolate cookies by Martha Stewart! I have such mixed feelings on her.. Actually, it’s more of a love/hate relationship. I find that with her recipes, you either love it or hate it, there’s no in between. Although, with her scrapbooking line, it’s all LOVE LOVE LOVE. The only thing I hate about her scrapbooking line is how ridiculously overpriced everything is. Anyways, back to the topic.. these cookies turned out great! They have a chewy center and a crackly top, similar to that of a brownie. The batter may turn out a bit more liquidy than normal cookie batter, but don’t fret! It’s supposed to be like that. The only thing that I would change about this recipe is replacing semi-sweet chocolate with milk chocolate because the cookies turned out a bit too bitter and not sweet enough for my taste. Either that, or add more sugar. They are also VERY chocolatey, so if you aren’t a fan of chocolate, I’d recommend finding a different recipe.

Ingredients

Makes 2 dozen

  • 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring in between, until almost melted; do not overheat. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
  2. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.
  3. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on sheets 10 minutes; with a thin metal spatula, transfer to racks to cool completely.

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