Sunday, May 26, 2013

"The Chewy" Chocolate Chip Cookie



     Okay. So I haven't been spending too much time in the kitchen, as evidenced by my neglected little space here.  My right hand has been out of commission ever since an unfortunate tumble on a riser left me with a torn ligament. Who knew that school pictures were so hazardous? Repairs have been made, but I'll be in a cast for a while yet.

      My grandson in TX requested cookies, so I couldn't let a little thing like a bum thumb get in the way. I looked to Alton Brown and his mixer friendly recipe for  The Chewy, and he did not disappoint me. The only change I made was to use dark brown instead of light brown sugar. And I chilled the dough overnight, which made it even harder to scoop left handed, but made for a nice compact cookie that didn't spread too much in the oven.

     This cookie lived up to its descriptive name, and was still pronounced "yummy" (and still chewy) after a few days in the hands of the postal service. It's definitely a "keeper" recipe, especially since my trusty mixer did most of the hard work! And my grandson's smiles across the miles made it totally worth it. :)



The Chewy
Recipe from Alton Brown, Food Network
I followed the recipe linked above with a few minor changes I've indicated below.
Ingredients- If you have a food scale, I recommend weighing the ingredients- especially the flour.
2 sticks (16 Tblsp.) unsalted butter
12 oz. bread flour (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 oz. granulated sugar (about 4 1/2 Tblsp.)
8 oz. light brown sugar (about one cup) I used dark brown.
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 oz. whole milk (2 Tblsp.)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
12 oz. chocolate chips
Directions:
  • Melt butter over low heat. Cool slightly.
  • In a stand mixer (using paddle attachment) mix butter and both sugars on med. speed for 2 minutes.
  • Sift together flour, salt and baking soda. (I like to sift onto a piece of waxed paper.)
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, the egg yolk, milk and vanilla. Add to butter and sugar in mixer (on low speed) until combined.
  • Gradually pour in flour mixture, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
  • Once flour has been incorporated, reduce mixer speed to "stir" and add chocolate chips.
  • Chill dough for at least an hour. (I chilled mine overnight)
  • Preheat oven to 350F.
  • Scoop dough onto parchment covered baking sheets.
  • Bake 13-15 minutes, depending on your oven and the size of your cookies. I used the medium sized scoop from Pampered Chef, and baked them about 14 minutes. Using this scoop, the recipe yielded about 3 1/2 dozen cookies.
  • Slide parchment (cookies and all) onto racks to cool. Remove cookies from parchment to rack when they've cooled enough to firm up.



27 comments:

  1. You are a better woman than I am! When I fractured my wrist in May 2012, I pretty much abandoned the kitchen for five weeks! I can, however, feel your pain! Hope the healing is fast and successful.

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  2. Sorry to hear about your hand! And you are such a sweet grandma to make these for your grandson!
    The cookies looks wonderful and I can see why they bring those smiles to your grandson!
    Take care!

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  3. I would love to have a cookie or two and a nice glass of milk.

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  4. YEAH!!! I KNEW you'd be putting an update on here! Can't keep a GOOD LADY down for long! Hope some of these show up at work ....hint....hint.....husband/son of my dear friend!!! We're holding down the fort without you......it's tuff but we're doing our best! RH

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  5. Chewy cookies are my favorite! Yum!

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  6. Yummmmm! No skimping on the chips here. When my mom used to make them she put 1/2 C. in the whole recipe. I would search for the cookie with the most - no searching needed with these babies!

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  7. There is nothing like a delicious chocolate chip cookie and these look like beauties. I have never made anything by Alton Brown, but always enjoyed watching him cook.

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  8. Lovin it very much.
    I prefer chewy and slightly crumpled cookies,
    especially with tons of choco chops, nothing better!

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  9. Oh man I hope your hand feels better soon!! These cookies look amazing...so thick and perfect!

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  10. So sorry about your hand. Yikes! Hope it will be good as new very soon.

    You are a better woman than me to try to scoop these cookies after chilling the dough. We'll do anything for our grandkids, right?

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  11. These cookies look dang delicious, Betty. I love all different kinds of chocolate cookies.
    I wish you a speedy recovery!

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  12. What a lucky boy your grandson is. Those cookies look perfect. Good luck with your recovery.
    Mimi

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  13. How awful that you fell on the riser. You're lucky it wasn't worse although it sounds like you've been out of commission for a while. How long will your cast be on for?

    These cookies sounds delish. I'm sure your grandson loved them but actually it sounds like you could use a treat as well.

    Feel better soon. Nice to hear from you.

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  14. OMG. LOVEEEEE CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!!!!

    Sorry about the yelling. Thanks for sharing :D

    xoxo Chow Down SF

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  15. I'm sorry about your accident-I hope you are on the mend and will be back to speed shortly!
    Your grandson is one lucky guy....the cookies are right up my alley and I know my grand kids would go crazy (in a good way!) for these beauties;-)

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  16. Well yummy! These are lovely cookies and I just love Alton Brown. All his recipes (that I've made) have turned out great and I see this is no exception. Sorry about your tumble and cast and thumb. You are a wonderful grandma baking while injured - such a trooper! Heal fast!

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  17. I'm so sorry about your hand! I hope you are 100% very soon. And these cookies? They look perfect. I love a good chewy cookie. What a sweet treat to make for your little guy!

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  18. Honestly these look like the perfect chocolate chip cookies - SO delectable - a lovely, lovely treat :))
    mary x

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  19. What a shame about your accident! Here's wishing you a speedy recovery.

    These are my favorite kind of chocolate chipper. I like to refrigerate my dough first too. I'll give you some shortbread if you give me some of these :)

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  20. Just my type of cookies!! I love chewy over crispy and I can have choc chip cookies anytime :)!

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  21. Unusual ingredient re bread flour. I'll have to try that. This does look like a wonderful cookie. I like Alton Brown's recipes. Dark brown sugar so much richer than light too.
    Hope you're mending fast!

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  22. So sorry about your hand. Hope you'll get a speedy recovery. Oh boy, these cookies look amazing. I love chewy cookies too. :P Now, I think I want a dozen...with a glass of milk please!

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  23. i've come to believe that overnight chilling is essential! good ol' alton--your grandson's a lucky kid. :)

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  24. Those cookies look really good. I hope you are healing well. I fell down the stairs on Mothers Day and broke my left arm up near my shoulder. they cant cast it,so i've been in a sling with a recovery period of about 4-6 months. Glad we both have wonderful husbands : )

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  25. Oh Betty these choc chip cookies are so tempting! I've been searching for the perfect recipe for this level of chewiness plus flavor and I think that you have answered my prayers!

    Thank you for sharing this recipe!

    Hugs,
    Roz

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  26. Betty...It's so regretful how inconvenienced you been with that pesky cast...I sure do understand.
    I guess a Grandma like you can easily forget the cast when Grandson requests yummy cookies ;O)

    This recipe is quite interesting, especially since I would never have thought of putting bread flour.

    Have yourself a lovely week and here's hoping your hand will soon be freed!

    Ciao for now,
    Claudia

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Thanks for stopping by scrambled hen fruit! I appreciate all of your comments and look forward to reading them.

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