cookie monster

i haven’t created a monster, i AM the monster. for the past 5 months i’ve been a cookie baking fool. i am a bake-ette on a mission: develop a chocolate chip cookie recipe that is irresistibly yummy, distinctly mine, and relatively healthy. i was inspired to embark on this quest by my brother in law, who always seems to have a fresh batch of homemade cookies ready for dessert or an after-school snack (he’s a teacher). i was lucky enough to partake in the cookies often because i’d often stop by my sister’s house while i was working nearby last summer. i began to request the cookies and even got a batch of my own on my birthday last november.

i realized i don’t have a personal “go-to” goodie that i can whip up anytime from scratch. for some reason i want to establish a signature treat that my friends and family can expect to greet them in my home or at gatherings…one that my (eventual) kids will look forward to when they come home after a long day or to share when they invite friends over. so it has to be great (if everyone’s gonna love it) and it has to be healthful (if it’s gonna be mine). and therein lies the hitch. there are plenty of “healthy” recipes out there that use alternative ingredients and still manage to produce an okay result, but i have found none are that great, in my opinion. the goal is to create a cookie that both my junkfood-loving husband and my nutrition-dedicated self could enjoy. he is my most discriminating taster. if i win over his tastebuds, i have achieved uncompromising success.

the classic chocolate chip cookie seemed to be the way to go. (although i can certainly appreciate a good oatmeal cookie, or peanut butter, or snickerdoodle…) i started by comparing two recipes: my BIL’s dairy-free version and the Original Nestlé® Toll House® formula. from there my kitchen launched into cookie chaos. i am well aware that i’m certainly not the first (or last) to set out on the quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, so i didn’t even try to reinvent any wheels.

i found the recipe touted as the perfect chocolate chip cookie from this nytimes article circulating on the web, and incorporated some of the extra steps and sophisticated methods. a few batches into my r&d, i was fortunate enough to be listening to NPR at the right moment and catch an interview with a chemist in the kitchen. as many of you may know, the tricky thing about baking is that it’s all chemistry. certain ingredients play specific roles, and different concoctions will produce a more crispy or gooey or fluffy texture. (and everyone seems to have an adamant opinion on which texture is best – and they remain fiercely loyal to that type.)

yeah, cookies seem like they’d be the simplest dessert in the world, but there are vastly more ways to go about it than i ever dreamed. aside from the multitude of varying opinions on what makes the perfect cookie texture and flavor, different bakers advise conflicting methods to achieving that: mix well/don’t overmix; let the dough sit overnight/bake immediately, use an ungreased cookie sheet/line with parchment paper, make small dough balls, always add nuts, flatten before baking, sprinkle with salt, use this specific chocolate chunk… whoa!

so this blog post has been in draft mode for several months, growing in length with each new batch and tweak to the recipe. every time i’ve gone to post it a i’ve had a new development on the cookie front that has caused me to delay and add to the record of my madness – a rapidly growing trail of enticing and disastrous desserts as my cookie experiment progressed.

overall i’ve been pleased with the results after carefully replacing refined ingredients for less processed ones. the key is to keep the ratios of fat and sugar and starch the same (don’t try to low-fat-ize or reduce-carb-inate it). so far my family has served as the eager taste-testers, regularly receiving large batches of surplus. (although some have been more enjoyable than others.) i’ve just recently felt confident enough to bestow a few dozen on close friends, but we are still in the testing phase… i’m sure the recipe will continue to evolve, and hopefully it will only improve. the task may have been more involved than i had anticipated, but i don’t think anyone minds extra cookies of any kind hanging around. they never last long!

behold a selection of the wide array of specimens that emerged from my oven: