I've talked a lot about the political side, I haven't said as much about the chocolate chip cookie side. Over the years I've developed a chocolate chip cookie recipe that generally gets good feedback from everyone I've made them for. Some of it I learned growing up, some I learned from my uncle (making chocolate chip cookies at his house really puts you in the hot seat! He and his daughter have a slight difference of opinion on the best recipe, but so far as I can tell the difference comes down to whether you plan to eat the cookie dough or actually bake it into cookies.) Since I sometimes get in a baking mood and don't want to eat two dozen cookies by myself, that includes numerous co-workers and employees. Someone asked me how I made them once, and at first I thought "it's easy, I just follow the recipe".
Except then I realized I didn't. Sure, I generally start with the recipe on the back of the bag of chips.
But then I generally halve the amount of sugar it calls for (great tip I heard a while back, and for the most part I've never had anyone notice or complain when I do it. The only exceptions I'd make are for any recipe calling for butterscotch, or something like Batman's Delight. For some reason it just doesn't have the right edge to it if you halve the brown sugar.)
And I decide to butter for half of the shortening, and butter-flavored crisco for the other half. (I normally double the recipe, so that means one easy stick of crisco. If you didn't know, the crisco doesn't spread as much as butter when it bakes...so half crisco means the cookies are a little thicker.)
And when it comes time to add the vanilla, I add in some almond extract as well. That's just how my family has always done it, I don't know where it came from. I do think the hint of almond gives it a slight sweetness.
Eggs...not much to mess around with there. If you're trying to reduce cholesterol and want to use egg beaters instead of whole eggs, it doesn't seem to hurt anything. Most of the flavor doesn't come from the eggs. (I wouldn't recommend doing so for omelettes though, definitely tastes different.)
Add in your salt and baking soda, and now you come to the other fun thing to tinker with. Flour. The recipe calls for 2 1/4 c flour, so if you double it that's 4 1/2 cups. I generally use oatmeal for the first half a cup. (My uncle will even go so far as to blend up the oatmeal and make it an oatmeal flour, but when you put it in first it seems to soak up the moisture enough that I've not had a problem with putting it in straight.)
I also started messing around a bit with whole wheat flour. I was skeptical about it at first, but met someone who baked with it and knew the basics (it will be drier than your usual white flour, and will cook more quickly...and look different when done.) She would make her cookies with mostly whole wheat flour, but I think it tastes a little off and I haven't done any more than half. It doesn't even have to be whole wheat flour. I've thrown in some brown rice flour, ground flax seed, etc and nobody seems to even suspect. Of course, I'm still keeping half the flour as the white flour everyone is used to so it's not like I'm truly challenging their taste buds.
Except then I realized I didn't. Sure, I generally start with the recipe on the back of the bag of chips.
But then I generally halve the amount of sugar it calls for (great tip I heard a while back, and for the most part I've never had anyone notice or complain when I do it. The only exceptions I'd make are for any recipe calling for butterscotch, or something like Batman's Delight. For some reason it just doesn't have the right edge to it if you halve the brown sugar.)
And I decide to butter for half of the shortening, and butter-flavored crisco for the other half. (I normally double the recipe, so that means one easy stick of crisco. If you didn't know, the crisco doesn't spread as much as butter when it bakes...so half crisco means the cookies are a little thicker.)
And when it comes time to add the vanilla, I add in some almond extract as well. That's just how my family has always done it, I don't know where it came from. I do think the hint of almond gives it a slight sweetness.
Eggs...not much to mess around with there. If you're trying to reduce cholesterol and want to use egg beaters instead of whole eggs, it doesn't seem to hurt anything. Most of the flavor doesn't come from the eggs. (I wouldn't recommend doing so for omelettes though, definitely tastes different.)
Add in your salt and baking soda, and now you come to the other fun thing to tinker with. Flour. The recipe calls for 2 1/4 c flour, so if you double it that's 4 1/2 cups. I generally use oatmeal for the first half a cup. (My uncle will even go so far as to blend up the oatmeal and make it an oatmeal flour, but when you put it in first it seems to soak up the moisture enough that I've not had a problem with putting it in straight.)
I also started messing around a bit with whole wheat flour. I was skeptical about it at first, but met someone who baked with it and knew the basics (it will be drier than your usual white flour, and will cook more quickly...and look different when done.) She would make her cookies with mostly whole wheat flour, but I think it tastes a little off and I haven't done any more than half. It doesn't even have to be whole wheat flour. I've thrown in some brown rice flour, ground flax seed, etc and nobody seems to even suspect. Of course, I'm still keeping half the flour as the white flour everyone is used to so it's not like I'm truly challenging their taste buds.
Edited to add: the chips! How can I forget the chips?!? I personally like to mix in dark chocolate chips for half (of a double recipe) and butterscotch chips for the other half. I sometimes try other chips as well. Peanut butter and chocolate. Mint chocolate chip. Nestle has made some new ones recently too, like cherry chocolate or caramel chocolate.
I will admit I've messed around with 'healthier' alternatives. The butter and crisco are pretty fatty, and I've heard that you can substitute yogurt for some of the butter. I tried it, and while it was tasty enough that I wasn't upset with the result, it didn't quite look right and the texture was a little different.
I will admit I've messed around with 'healthier' alternatives. The butter and crisco are pretty fatty, and I've heard that you can substitute yogurt for some of the butter. I tried it, and while it was tasty enough that I wasn't upset with the result, it didn't quite look right and the texture was a little different.
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