No Cookies This Week...

I've decided to take a break from my quest to make The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie this week. Next week I'm going to try Batch 2. Hopefully the feedback that I got on Batch 1 will prove helpful for Batch 2. We'll just have to see...

Survey Says...

Well, the results are in and the cookies were a hit. Though I’m not ready to deem them The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies (it was only Batch One!!), most people seemed to think that they had real potential. Here’s what they said:

Boyfriend:
Thought they were a little too thick and cake-like and not quite sweet enough
Suggested that I try using milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet
Neighbors:
Didn’t have much to say other than, “Yum!,” and “When are you making more?”
One roommate did suggest adding a little more salt
Colleagues:
They actually liked the size of the cookies and the fact that they weren’t “super” sweet

After talking with my tasters, I think that there are two main things that I will change when I make the next batch. First, I will replace the semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies with milk chocolate ones. Next, I will make smaller cookies (even if it means making 15 pans full and letting the pan cool “completely" between each batch-see previous entry).

Even though Batch One turned out pretty well, I think that with these minor changes, Batch Two just might reveal the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie!

Batch One...

Well, I did it! I made my first batch of cookies. I measured every ingredient precisely and followed each step of the instructions exactly as they were written without any deviation. Everything was going great and I was positive that I had in fact made the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie! That is until it came time to put the dough on the baking sheets. Apparently, the recipe is supposed to make 30…yes, 30…cookies. Who has that many baking sheets if you space out each cookie like recipe advises? Not me. And what’s this business about letting the baking sheet cool “completely” between batches? Who’s got that kind of time? Again, not me.

Needless to say, I did not make 30 cookies. Instead, I thought that I would make each cookie slightly larger than suggested. What could it hurt, right? In my opinion a bigger cookie would be ideal since you can tell anyone who asks that you only had one cookie (even though it was the size of two) and not be lying. Sounds like a plan to me. So, 21 cookies sounded close enough to me.

Once again, the recipe was right. Instead of having cookies that were the texture of cookies, they were more like little cakes…kind of. Whatever they were like, they were too thick for cookies. Fortunately, they really didn’t taste that bad… in fact they were rather good…they just weren’t what one would consider the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Despite this, I couldn’t let them go to waste. Besides, this whole endeavor is about learning to make the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie so if would be pointless if it happened on the first try (even though that would really boost my baking confidence!!). So, I boxed up my cookies in cute little plastic containers, because everyone knows that it’s all about presentation, and shared them with my neighbors and co-workers with the understanding that they would provide me with constructive criticism. I’ll let you know what they said next week…

Gathering the Ingredients...

After picking the recipe for the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie, it was time to get the ingredients together. Originally, I thought that I had a lot of the ingredients that I would need to for the recipe I had chosen already in my pantry. However, I soon discovered that I did not have anything but the very basics like eggs, sugar, and salt.
It was a cold and rainy Sunday and I thought it would be the ideal day to stay inside and bake.

So, recipe in hand, I headed to the store. Since I was also picking up other groceries as well, I didn’t realize that I had left the recipe in the car until I was all the way in the back of Wal-Mart and I could hear the rain pounding on the metal roof above me. I was ready to just forget baking for the day…as good of an excuse as any…until I had the bright idea to check out the recipe on the back of a bag of chocolate chips. How different could it be from the one that I had chosen? Apparently very!

After returning from the store, I unloaded all of my ingredients on the counter so that I could check my recipe to make sure I got everything I needed. Though I had all of the ingredients, per say, I began to realize that getting the ingredients for a cookie recipe is not as black and white as I had originally thought.

Below, I will try to decode the recipe that I have chosen in an attempt to spare people from the ingredient confusion I experienced:

Unsalted Butter:

Most butter is salted so you have to look for the package that specifically says “unsalted.” If, by chance, you can’t find it or forget it (hey, it happens), you can use regular butter but omit or use less of the salt that the recipe also calls for.

Dark Brown Sugar:

This one is a little more negotiable. Light brown sugar should be fine.

Sugar:

No biggie here.

Eggs:

Pretty straight forward.

Pure Vanilla Extract:

There are two types of vanilla extract, “pure” and “imitation.” Most serious bakers will advocate for the use of pure extract, however, the imitation kind will work, too.

Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips or Chunks:

This is really more of a preference, I think. If you like your cookies a little less sweet, stick with the semi-sweet. If not, I would suggest the regular (sweet) ones.

All-Purpose Flour:

This is VERY important. Most people have “self-rising” flour in their pantry because it is what most recipes call for. However, it is NOT the same as “all-purpose.” Self-rising flour has an added ingredient that causes things to rise which is not what you want your cookies to do.

Baking Soda:

Not “powder.” You're looking for the stuff in the yellow box that your mom kept in the fridge to keep it smelling fresh.

Salt:

The stuff in the shaker is fine.