We recently got back from vacation and adjusting has been a bit rough. Between the time change, catching up on appointments, and just getting back into the swing of things, the days have been pretty long. Today in particular was a tough one.
At one point I texted my husband:
I never made it to the store, but I did take quite a long nap followed by waking up and reviewing my “Cookies and brownies and treats oh my!” Pinterest page for which chocolate chip cookie to make. I have a tendency to mindlessly scroll through my feed, pinning anything that looks good, without actually ever making it (to be fair, I know I am far from alone in doing that). Tonight though, it was happening.
I opened EVERY chocolate chip cookie recipe that I had pinned, minus ones I knew we didn’t have the ingredients for and y’all… there were 22. I narrowed it down a bit more, then made the husband narrow it down from 9 to 1. Which actually did something I didn’t expect. Since he had helped pick the recipe he was ready to help make it!
We ended up choosing “Best Ever Chocolate Chunk Cookies” by Baker by Nature and dividing the recipe in half so that we couldn’t go too crazy indulging.
It was a great and delicious choice. We were impatient so after browning the butter we stuck it in the freezer to cool down while we measured and prepped everything else. The butter never got to the room temp as suggested in the recipe, but it cooled enough.
The cookies were AMAZING and we did a mix of chopped chocolate off of a bar and chips due to what we had.
***Blog Update: The cookies were just as good the next day ;)
Quick details:
Pearl hours: 20 min
Start to Finish: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy... too easy
Project thoughts:
This recipe is a keeper! We’ll play with and try different variations on things now that we know it works
Pearl Tips:
- Browned. Butter. Is. WORTH IT. Just do it trust me
- Chocolate chunks from a bar = better than chips any day. It typically seems less sweet, melts better, and gives some variety. One bite is a small ribbon of chocolate, the next is an oozing river of chocolate lava flowing out of the center of the cookie to the end like lava into the sea… yeah I’m still thinking about those cookies…
- Salt. Sprinkle Kosher or better yet flaked sea salt on the cookies before they rest to cool. It helps bring out the flavor and add a little something extra
- Always add more vanilla… that stuff is everything
Lessons learned:
- Browned butter takes some time to cool. Figure out your patience level and have at it
How I'd do it differently next time:
- Prep the browned butter in advance
- All chocolate bar chunks vs. chips, but a lady’s got to work with what she’s got sometimes
- Try out a few of our “family secrets” aka: use some maple syrup in replacement of the sugar, add almond extract, etc.