chocolate chip cookies – Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION.

Food – milk chocolate oatmeal cookies

I’m always in the mood to eat cookies but I don’t always feel like making them. Part of the problem is that whenever I do make them I end up eating more than I should. This recipe is really easy and fairly healthy as far as cookies go…..(brown sugar instead of white, oats and only 1 egg) so I couldn’t wait to make them. They’re quick and delicious and I just added coconut flakes. You can double the recipe but if you want to ensure you don’t eat too many, maybe it’s a good idea to stick to the original.

Brown Sugar Chocolate-Chip Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. fine sea salt

½ cup unsalted butter, either at room temperature or slightly chilled

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

½ quick oats

1 cup milk chocolate chips

unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)

Preheat oven to 325F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. If you don’t have parchment then spray baking sheets lightly with oil.

Stir flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter with sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until combined. Stir in oats and chocolate chips. Spoon 2 Tbsp. portions of dough, 3 in. apart, onto prepared sheets. Flatten them slightly using your fingers.

Bake in centre of oven until edges are golden but centres are soft, 12-15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely. Pour yourself a glass of milk!

Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 week. But let’s face it – they’ll only last one or two days at most.

Makes 12-16 cookies.

If you really need to know they’re about 200 calories per cookie.

Below are links to some other cookie recipes I’ve made and posted before (all equally delicious):

Sweet ‘n Salty: https://girlwhowouldbeking.com/2014/02/10/sweetly-satisfying-ultimate-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Vegan: https://girlwhowouldbeking.com/2014/03/25/simply-satisfying-vegan-chocolate-chip-coconut-cookies/

Ultimate Dark: https://girlwhowouldbeking.com/2012/11/06/simple-and-satisfying-the-ultimate-chocolate-chip-cookies/

FUN

Sweetly Satisfying – & salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

A perfect Valentine’s Day treat with a balance of sweet & salty in very bite. If you love a great chewy chocolate chip cookie then this recipe is for you.

This is better than the average chocolate chip cookie recipe because of a few changes to basic ingredients. The sugars are a combo of organic brown, *coconut and cane. Usually I don’t add any nuts but this time I added some chopped macadamia nuts for deliciously added crunch. Then some extra vanilla in the form of pure vanilla bean paste and sprinkled the tops of each cookie with lavender sea salt just before baking (but any sea salt is good). My hand mixer wasn’t working properly which resulted in having to manually mix most of the ingredients….which turned out surprisingly good (as over mixing is not recommended especially when adding dry ingredients).

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature (try using one stick of unsalted & one salted).

1 cup sugar (I like using a combo of organic cane and coconut sugar). *Coconut sugar is more nutritious and lower on the glycemic index than regular sugar.

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

½ tsp pure vanilla bean extract (optional)

2 large eggs

2 cups of chocolate chips or chunks (try using a combo of the best quality you can find of bittersweet, milk, semi–sweet & white). *I drizzled some melted dark chocolate over top for added punch (optional).

Go Nuts: ½ – 1 cup (depending on how much you like nuts) of finely chopped walnuts, pecans or *macadamia. (optional)

Sea salt flakes, for sprinkling on top.

Directions

Center one of the racks in the oven; preheat to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Working with a stand mixor (preferable fitted with a paddle attachment) or hand mixor in a large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed for about 3 minutes until well blended. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Reduce mixer to low; add dry ingredients in three portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated (don’t overmix). By hand or with rubber spatula mix in chocolate and nuts. Spoon dough in slightly rounded tablespoons onto baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake cookies rotating sheets and switching position from top to bottom at the midway point (about 8-10 minutes is halfway), or until they are brown and the edges are golden in the center. They may still be a little soft in the center, and that’s fine. Remove from oven and allow cookies to rest 1 minute, then carefully transfer them to racks or cookie tray to cool, using a wide metal spatula. Repeat with remaining dough, cooling baking sheets between batches.

The cookies can be kept in a sealed container for about 4 days or wrapped airtight and frozen for up to two months.

TIPS:

1) all recipes call for unsalted butter at room temperature. I keep the butter cold in the fridge until a short time before mixing and cut it into little cubes. Apparently Mrs. Fields makes her cookies like that so now I do too.

2) Rest dough before baking by leaving batter in the fridge for up to 24 hours. It allows the flavors to meld and the sugars to become more like molasses. You can also freeze half or all of the batter.

3) Use a lower temperature and leave them cook a bit longer than recipe calls for (if it calls for 375F, use 350F. If it calls for 350F, use 325F).

4) Never place your batter on a warm cookie sheet. Instead, let it cool between batches. A hot sheet causes the dough to melt before it goes into the oven, which tends to uneven baking, compromising the texture.

5) If your cookies are a little too crispy you can always put a piece of bread in the cookie tin – this will help soften them.

Makes about 40 cookies

Food + Drink

The ULTIMATE chocolate-chip cookies

The Look no Further for a Chocolate-Chip Cookie recipe (if I may say so):

If you love chocolate chip cookies as much as I do then I think you’ll find these ones quite delicious.

There are a few little tricks that help to make them turn out better but most recipes don’t mention them.

*TIPS: For instance, 1) using cold butter instead of at room temperature, 2) Refrigerating the dough for half an hour before baking and 3) putting them on a lower heat for longer than the recipe calls for.

Recipe:

2 1/4 cups (550 ml) all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat all-purpose) 1 tsp (5 ml) baking soda, 1/2 tsp (2ml) salt 1 cup (250 ml) unsalted butter, at room temperature (*see notes above). You can still use room temperature is that’s what most recipes call for but Mrs. Field’s knows better. 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) lightly packed brown sugar 1 egg 1 1/2 tsp. (7 ml) pure vanilla extract 2 cups (500 ml) dark chocolate chips or coarsely chopped dark-chocolate chunks.

Note: I made this recipe before using the coarsely chopped dark chocolate and it was delicious but this time I used a mix of equal amounts of bitter-sweet, milk, semi-sweet and white Ghiradelli chocolate chips. The taste sensation of all the different kinds was SWEET! I recommend using the mix.

Pre-heat oven to 350 (180c) or 300 if you follow suggestions above. Lightly spray a baking sheet with oil. In a medium bowl, use a fork to stir flour with baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon or an electric mixer, beat butter with sugar until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture, until just combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Scoop about 1 Tbsp (15 ml) of dough and place on prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, placing at least 2 in (5 cm) apart. Don’t press down; they will spread as they bake.

Bake in centre of oven until cookies are golden around the edges, from 8 to 10 minutes at 350 and at least 15 if oven is at 300. Also depends on what size cookie you want – just check on them. Remove from sheet to a heatproof surface and leave for 2 min. Then remove the cookies to a rack to cool completely. Cool baking sheet or use another one and repeat with remaining dough.

If making ahead, form dough into a thick disc and wrap well. Refrigerate up to 2 weeks or freeze up to a month. Cookies will keep in a covered container at room temperature for a few days – but I doubt they’ll last that long.

You can make up to 5 dozen if forming them into regular size Tbsps but I prefer the size shown so always put double the amount of dough called for on the sheet. Less is MORE!

Nutrients per cookie (more or less): 1g protein, 5g fat, 12g carbs, 1g fibre, 8mg calcium, 92 calories.