Do you ever get, how should I say it, a little cocky in the kitchen? Maybe a bit more confident than usual, which leads to unadvisable multi-tasking? You're mixing and chatting, twirling your whisk and sipping a class of pinot noir (that's supposed to make it into the sauce), listening to music and sauteing simultaneously. Well sometimes I do this and then before I know it, I've screwed something up. My friend Maya even called me on it when she came with her fam for a visit this weekend—I had decided to make a slightly more labor intensive version of chocolate chip cookies (per Thomas Keller's recipe) and got so busy chatting, chewing and baking that Maya said "how can you be doing all this at once?", and I was like "it's no problem!" But of course, I ended up burning the first batch! The temperature of the oven was too high and the little suckers got crispy before I knew it... everyone was nice enough to eat them anyway, but I was not happy with these cookies. The next day I decided to redeem myself by trying again.
The recipe I was using from Keller's new book was not radically different from the one on the back of the Tollhouse bag, but it does expect you (rightfully so) to use two kinds of high quality chocolate (he describes them in percentage of cocoa, I just chose one block of Scharffen-Berger semisweet and one block bittersweet) and to chop up your own chips. This step makes a huge difference, that's because regular chocolate chips contain an emulsifier that keeps them from losing their shape when they melt (I've actually seen this described as "chip bleed"...ew) but also effects the flavor of the chocolate. By making your own chips and using high quality chocolate I think you can transform any chocolate chip cookie recipe from good to amazing.
And I am happy to say that batch number two was perfect—Maya you need to come back!—a thin but chewy cookie with a light crispy exterior, and tons of chocolate flavor. They might be too good for a bake sale...but they're perfect for guests and you.—Caroline
Do you ever get, how should I say it, a little cocky in the kitchen? Maybe a bit more confident than usual, which leads to unadvisable multi-tasking? You're mixing and chatting, twirling your whisk and sipping a class of pinot noir (that's supposed to make it into the sauce), listening to music and sauteing simultaneously. Well sometimes I do this and then before I know it, I've screwed something up. My friend Maya even called me on it when she came with her fam for a visit this weekend—I had decided to make a slightly more labor intensive version of chocolate chip cookies (per Thomas Keller's recipe) and got so busy chatting, chewing and baking that Maya said "how can you be doing all this at once?", and I was like "it's no problem!" But of course, I ended up burning the first batch! The temperature of the oven was too high and the little suckers got crispy before I knew it... everyone was nice enough to eat them anyway, but I was not happy with these cookies. The next day I decided to redeem myself by trying again.
The recipe I was using from Keller's new book was not radically different from the one on the back of the Tollhouse bag, but it does expect you (rightfully so) to use two kinds of high quality chocolate (he describes them in percentage of cocoa, I just chose one block of Scharffen-Berger semisweet and one block bittersweet) and to chop up your own chips. This step makes a huge difference, that's because regular chocolate chips contain an emulsifier that keeps them from losing their shape when they melt (I've actually seen this described as "chip bleed"...ew) but also effects the flavor of the chocolate. By making your own chips and using high quality chocolate I think you can transform any chocolate chip cookie recipe from good to amazing.
And I am happy to say that batch number two was perfect—Maya you need to come back!—a thin but chewy cookie with a light crispy exterior, and tons of chocolate flavor. They might be too good for a bake sale...but they're perfect for guests and you.—Caroline
5 comments:
Ewww chip bleed! Ha ha, I love reading your posts. Thanks for the tip on making your own chips.
Chip bleed makes me think of some kind of vampire situation with the Cookie Monster...right? Thanks for the comment Agrrrl!
So true about making your own chippy chunks. I've gotten lazy about it lately, but you've shamed me back to purity!
Yummmmmm! Just did a blog for Belle http://dwellerswithoutdecorators.blogspot.com/
First of all, even the burnt ones were good, chip bleed and all. I'd rather have good conversation than perfect cookies. But then you made that second batch that were perfect. You are the perfect hostess. And you didn't even send us home with your stomach virus! (or did we bring it to you?)
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