Big Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

A Cookie Monster favorite

“It’s not a silly thing.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

I am not bold enough to say these are the best Chocolate Chip Cookies, but they are mighty fine. No obscure ingredients, no overnight chilling time, just a huge batch of scrumptious Chocolate Chip Cookies. These are everybody’s favorite cookie, including the Cookie Monster at my house. I don’t even consider making a small batch of this recipe any more. We keep the dough chilled in the refrigerator and bake them a tray at a time. That way we can enjoy them warm from the oven. The aroma of chocolate chip cookies baking is one of life’s little pleasures.

The business of food blogging can get so very serious. The comments on this well written, thoughtful post about blogger burn-out and crazy real expectations shine a light on the whole mess. I hope you don’t mind that I’m just shrugging my weary shoulders and recalibrating to enjoy the fun and whimsy that had me start this little place on the web.

Essentials

This recipe is from Williams Sonoma Cookies written by Marie Simmons. I found several other Williams Sonoma Chocolate Chip cookie recipes on the web, but not the one from the Cookie cookbook. The original recipe has been doubled, it is the maximum that fits in my 5-quart Kitchen Aid mixer. I added more chocolate chips, a thick pour of molasses and swapped the vanilla for vanilla bean paste. None of these changes are necessary, just highly recommended. If we are going to indulge in warm Chocolate Chip Cookies, they had better be spectacular.

For this batch I used See’s semi-sweet chocolate chips. I really like the big chocolate chips in my cookies. I enjoy going into See’s to buy chocolate chips instead of a big box of candy. (I know my purchase isn’t saving any calories, sigh.) Regular Hershey’s semi-sweet chocolate chips make an outstanding cookie too. A word of caution, I used to get uneven results with this recipe. Sometimes the cookies would be stiff and have a domed shape, other times the cookies would melt and fuse together while baking. When I began to weigh the ingredients the recipe had a much better outcome. Now my Cookie Monster cookies are just like the ones in the Cookie cookbook.

	Big Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
2C/250gr	walnuts
3-2/3C/440gr	all-purpose flour
1t	baking powder
1t	baking soda
1t	fine grain sea salt
1C/250gr	unsalted butter, softened
1C/250gr	granulated sugar
1C/210gr	light brown sugar
1T	molasses
1T	vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
2	eggs, room temperature
2-2/3C/454gr/1lb	semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Heat the oven to 350°. Spread the walnuts across the surface of a sheet pan and toast for 10-12 minutes. The walnuts will become fragrant and just begin to change color when done. Let cool and then chop. If baking the cookies, leave the oven on at 350°.
2. In a medium size bowl sift together or shake through a sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter until it is pale yellow and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add both sugars and beat again. Stop to scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixer bowl. The original recipe recommends beating until “the mixture is no longer gritty when rubbed between your finger and thumb”. (When I make the recipe the mixture always seems to retain some amount of the sugar’s gritty texture, I beat for another 3-5 minutes.) Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly before adding the second egg. Mix in the molasses and vanilla. Stop to scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixer bowl. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed, mixing just until combined. Again, stop to scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixer bowl. Add the walnuts and chocolate chips, mix until just combined. The cookies can be baked now or later. Keep the unbaked dough refrigerated.
4. To bake the cookies heat the oven to 350°. Line a sheet pan with parchment. Use an ice cream scoop (or large spoon, or small cup) to measure uniform sized cookies. For really uniform sized cookies, weigh the dough for each cookie. Place them 2 inches apart on the sheet pan. Cold, refrigerated dough, will bake into a more domed shaped cookie. Flatten the tops of the scooped dough (just a little) with the palm of your hand. The warmth of your hand and flattening the cookie will push the cookies back into the classic shape. Baking times will vary depending on the size of the cookies. I used a red handled, color-coded ice cream scoop. It scoops 1.75 ounces, to make a fairly large cookie that takes 13-15 minutes to bake. Smaller cookies will take less time to bake. The cookies are finished baking when the edges start to brown. Let them cool on the sheet pan for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.