Oh yes, the Chocolate Chip Cookie. I may have found my new Go-To recipe!!
Many bakers seem to be searching for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. I too, have been searching for the ‘perfect chocolate chip cookie’ I do have a tried and true recipe that I fall back on that I know will not fail me but like many bakers, continue to seek out and try new versions of this classic. I have received almost a dozen emails from my blog readers requesting I try another chocolate chip cookie recipe and several have requested this recipe in particular. It comes from my beloved Alton Brown.

Several bloggers have already tried other versions of his chocolate chip cookie recipe so I decided to go with a recipe that I have had saved for over a months now. I was emailed the recipe by a friend and I do not own the book from which it originates, if my citing is wrong, please drop me a line and let me know.

I chose this recipe for a few reasons. It calls for no special ingredients,  it calls for an unusual method of mixing the ingredients and it implements the use of unconventional baking temperatures. Like my last cookie recipe, no mixer is needed to whip up this recipe, however, a little arm power is essential for adequatley mixing the chips into the dough. The dough came together in less than 15 minutes and after a short chilling in the fridge (the recipe does not require this but I feel it enhances the flavor of the baked cookie) these were ready to bake.  As stated before, unlike usual cookie recipes that call for one constant baking temperature, this one starts the cookies out at a higher temperature and then has you lower the temperature right after placing them into the oven to bake. I am asuming the higher initial temperature helps set the edges and the lowering of the temperature ensures consistent baking (no burnt bottoms and underbaked centers) producing a cookie with crisp edges and soft, chewy centers. What better combination in a cookie??

The texture of these cookies is great, everything I would look for in a cookie, phenomenal actually. They are slighlty crisp around the edges and soft and chewy in the middles.  They taste great out of the oven (after cooling for 10 minutes). I can’t wait to try them after they cool completly.
The depth of the flavor is also phenomenal, the perfect combination of brown sugar and butter. I was surprised that the cookies came out as chewy as they were and that thebrown sugar flavor was as pronounced as it was, given I used equal proportions of white and brown sugar. Once again I used a combination of milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips and found that proportion was just perfect in my opinion, sweet but not overly so.

I do have two complaints about this cookie. First, the finished cookies were too greasy in my opinion.  After realizing this with the first pan, I allowed the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the sheet and then transferred to paper-towel lined cooling racks to cool completly. This seemed to help soak up a bit of the grease. Second, you really need to monitor the cookies closely while baking as you need to constantly increase and decrease the temperature of the oven. This was fine today as I was in the kitchen cleaning, however, these may not be ideal for those who are multi-tasking and want to bake up a batch of cookies quickly (it took my oven 5 minutes to reheat to 375 between baking the batches).

Overall I loved these cookies. So much so that I am going to make another batch tomorrow for a party. I will decrease the butter by a 1/2 stick to see if that helps with the greasiness of the baked cookies. If I can make these less greasy while maintaining the flavor these may be my new favorite cookie. If you try adapting this recipe with great results PLEASE leave me a comment and let me know!

One last thing, Alton also gives directions on how to bake the dough as one large pan cookie which would be perfect for birthdays, anniversaries and parties. I would love to try baking it this way and then decorating with a little buttercream frosting!

I rate these cookies an 8
Only because I thought they were too greasy in my opinion, these would be at least a 9 for flavor and texture alone

Chocolate Chip Cookie #10 
Alton Brown’s I’m Just Here for More Food Cookbook

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (I only used 1/2 tsp and felt that was enough)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup un salted butter, melted and slightly cooled (I used salted butter, like always) **
2 cups chocolate chips (1 used 1 cup semi-sweet and 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees*.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the melted and cooled butter, sugars, egg yolks and vanilla until combined. 

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, pour in the butter mixture and  fold the ingredients together just until combined. Add the chocolate chips and fold to combine. Do not overmix.
I chilled my dough for 2 hours because I always do, but Alton does not call for this step.

For individual cookies, use a spoon or a disher and dish out your cookies, 2 inches apart, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. *

Bake for 12-15 minutes (Mine were done in 12).
Let cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack or paper towel-lined counter top.

*As soon as you put the cookies or cookie cake into the oven, turn the temperature down to 350 degrees. Alton Brown swears by this initial temperature boost.

Alternate Option:
For a cookie cake, dump the dough into an ungreased pizza pan or whatever kind of pan you have and gently press down until the dough is evenly distributed around the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or light golden brown.

**UPDATE: 5/4/09:
I made these again, only this time I used only 1 1/2 sticks butter (12 TBS) and found the baked cookies to be less greasy without sacrificing the flavor. I did chill the dough overnight so that may help keep and enhance the flavor of these cookies. I highly recommend chilling the dough at least a few hours before baking.
I also allowed the cookies to cool on paper-towel lined cooling racks for about 5 minutes and then transferred them to a regular cooling rack to cool completley. I found the paper towels to help absorb any grease from the warm cookies while the regular cooling rack allowed the bottoms of the cookies to firm up alowing the edges to become crisp upon cooling achieving the texture I  desire.
All in all I would recommend this recipe and suggest you play around with butter amounts and cooking/cooling methods that suit your tastes and preferences. I can’t wait to make them again!

I recently saw that my fellow blogger Katie has decided to take a break from blogging during the season of Lent.  She is using that time to spend with her husband and on other devotional activities. I was so inspired by her post that I too, have decided to step back from blogging, but only for the month of March. 

I will be reading and searching through recipes all month deciding what to make for my first post after I return in April (any suggestions??).

Why the short break?  I feel that stepping back for a month will force me to bake soley for the enjoyment of myself, friends and family. I will get hugs and thank-yous instead of comments. I will only have the memory of the dessert instead of  photos to swoon over.  I will not be sharing each new goodie with thousands but instead with a handful. A select handful of individuals that are the sole reason that I began the blog in the first place.

I LOVE to blog and share my feats and failures with the blogging community. I take pride in my goodies even if they do not turn out as expected. I love sharing my recipes and get super giddy reading your comments and feedback. It can be a real ego bosster.  But, I don’t want to ever take you guys for granted (as I have with some of my friends and family) and this temporary seperation will only make my heart grow fonder for blogging.  Trust me, this hurts me more than it will hurt you.

I do not want to minimize how important you, fellow bloggers and visitors, are to me. The blogging community is like a second family to me and trust me, I will miss you greatly and hope you will return with me in April!

Before I return I will need your help! If you have a cookie, bar, cake or dessert recipe you want me to make upon my return, leave the link or recipe in the comments section or email it to me. The selected goodie will be my first post back! You will get the credit and a shout out!

I am at it again! I can’t seem to get enough of chocolate and peppermint this time of year! This time I used one of my favorite recipes and adpat it a bit. I based this recipe off of this recipe and this one.  I wanted to mix it up a bit and this time decided bake them in muffin cups instead of in a cake pan. Even if you don’t use my recipe, feel free to try your own brownie recipe as the base for these yummy treats!

These have become one of my favorites this holiday season. Aside from being delicious, they are cute and festive. The perfect combination of chocolate and peppermint with a dense brownie texture. I love that they are individually portioned making them perfect for any Holiday party, treat tray or to pack in a lunch!

The best part is unlike baking a pan of brownies, these are a snap to portion for later. If you are anything like me, you rarely bake brownies unless you know others will be consuming them as well. If not you have two options, eat a few and allow the rest of the pan to stale or eat the entire pan yourself in a day or two (I usually do the latter of the two options.)  The solution my friends?? Bake your brownies in a muffin pan!
I baked these on Wednesday night and took a few to work. I froze the rest of these after they baked and cooled. I sealed them individually in heavy duty freezer bags and placed them carefully in the freezer (you don’t want anything to crush them so you may need a good deal of freezer room). To enjoy, I just took one out of the freezer and allowed to come back to room temp. So yummy! I microwaved it for 7 seconds to warm up and enjoyed with a mug of hot chocolate!

If you are looking for a treat that is sure to please now and later, you have to give these a try!

 I rate this recipe a 9

Peppermint Brownie Cups
6 TBS butter
6 oz  semisweet chocolate (chopped
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate (chopped)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
1/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
2 cups Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Lightly spray liners with cooking spray.

In a heat-proof bowl, melt together butter and chcolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals stirring after each interval until smooth. Allow to cool for 5 mintues.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Whisk or beat the sugar into the chocolate mixture. Add eggs and peppermint extract mixing until combined and smooth. Add flour mixture and mix until combined. Gently fold in the 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips.

Carefully pour batter to prepared each muffin liner filling about 2/3 full. Sprinkle a few Andes Peppermint chips over the top of each individual brownie. . Bake for 18-23 mintues or until a cake tester comes out with a few crumbs.

*Baking time will depend on your oven, watch carefully so you don’t overbake! Mine were done in 20 minutes.

Allow to cool before removing from muffin pan.
Keep brownies in cupcake liners until ready to serve  to help prevent them from drying out.

*I got 14 brownies, it will depend on how you fill the muffin cups on how many you get.

I have been tagged by SugarPlum, so here goes nothin!!

1. Last Movie I Saw In A Movie Theater?
The Dark Knight (A+)

2. What Book Are You Reading?
I am not reading any books right now but I have been reading the Wall Street Jouranl and NYT daily.
 
3. Favorite Board Game?
I love Scattegories (though it is not a ‘board’ game) and Scrabble

4. Favorite Magazine?
Entertainment Weekly.

5. Favorite Smells?
Fresh baked bread, fresh cut grass, light crisp floral scents (not all at the same time)

6. Favorite Sounds?
The oven timer sounding that my goodies are done baking and ready to be eaten

7. Worst Feeling In The World?
Having disappointed someone you care about

8. First Thing You Think of When You Wake?
What day is it??

9. Favorite Fast Food Place?
QDoba

10. Future Child’s Name?
Hmmm,

11. Finish This Statement—“If I Had a Lot of Money, I’d…go on vacation and pay off debt.”

12. Do You Drive Fast?
The cops think so, ha ha

13. Do You Sleep With a Stuffed Animal?
No.

14. Storms—Cool or Scary?
Cool.

15. What Was Your First Car?
Family Station Wagon, soooooooo NOT cool

16. Favorite Drink?
Iced Tea

17. Finish This Statement—“If I Had the Time, I Would…
learn a foreign language”

18. Do You Eat the Stems on Broccoli?
Yes

19. If You could Dye your Hair Any Other Color, What Would It Be?
Strawberry Blonde.

20. Name All the Different Cities In Which You Have Lived.
I plead the fifth, ha ha, very non-impressive I assure you

21. Favorite Sport to Watch?
Football

22. One Nice Thing About The Person Who Sent This To You
She inspires my inner baker with her blog recipes and photos

23. What’s Under Your Bed?
Wicker Baskets with a variety of cards (in case I need to send one: birthday/anniversary/baby, etc)

24. Would You Like to Be Born As Yourself Again?
I know no different so, probably.

25. Morning Person or Night Owl?
Morning!! Get er up and Get er done!

26. Over Easy or Sunny Side Up?
Over Medium

27. Favorite Place to Relax?
In a hammock (preferable in a tropical location, ha ha)

28. Favorite Ice Cream Flavor?
Soft Serve Vanilla

29. Of All the People You Have Tagged, Who Is the Most Likely to Respond First?
Whoever reads this first, I guess.

I am now tagging some wonderfull fellow bloggers, Please, Please, PLEASE go to their sites, they have great recipes sure to put a smile on your face!! Promise:

Ally

Katie

Sing for your Supper

Erin

Michele

Even though I am traveling, I see that I have been tagged by SweetSavorySouthern. If you have not checked out her blog yet do so NOW! She has some wonderful down home comfort foods that all sound delish!

I need to travel a bit for work for the next couple of weeks so there will be no updates for a week or so. I am so sorry but please check back soon!

In the mean time, here are some of my FAVES for you to make while I am away:

Double PeanutButter Cheesecake Swirled Brownies

Frosted Marshmallow Brownies

Famous Sugar Cookies

Basic Blondies

Frozen Dream Crunch Bars

Carmel Nut Snack Mix

I just got mine through Blake. I can’t wait to blog about it later this week!! Stay tuned.

I would like to extend a huge “Thank You” to Chelley at Sugar and Spice for making my day! to I love Chelley’s blog and visit it often for tride and true savory and sweet recipes. I admire her for the way she is constantly challenging herself with new recipes and techniques while participating in many “recipe challenges” such as the Daring Bakers and Tuesdays with Dorie.

Thanks again Chelley for making my Day!

Now, I am to pass along the good will to 10 other people that make my day… Deborah, Katie, Janey, Ally, Ashley, Erin, Jaime, Nikki, Julia, and Emily.

Please pass this along to 10 people that make your day!