Chocolate Chip Cookies

A chocolate chip cookie is... a chocolate chip cookie. There's not much you can do to change the basic recipe of a chocolate chip cookie, but do a Google search for a chocolate chip cookie recipe and you'll get hundreds of different recipes, each claiming to be the best. I guess everybody has their own likes and dislikes, no matter how subtle the differences in various recipes. Me, I like to use butter and not shortening, and I use all brown sugar for a deeper flavor compared to a combination of white and brown sugar. I do like walnuts in mine, but my son is allergic to walnuts so I leave them out.
This is supposedly a copycat recipe of the giant chocolate chip cookies at Levain Bakery in New York. Never having tasted one of their cookies -or heard of the bakery before- I have no idea how close they are, but these are pretty darn tasty.

chocolate chip cookies (adapted from My Baking Addiction)

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2 C brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 3/4 C flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 C chocolate chips

1 C chopped walnuts, optional

1. Preheat oven to 375 and line baking sheets with parchment paper

2. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with the paddle attatchment, cream together butter and sugar, at least 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla, beating until well combined.

3. Add flour, salt, baking soda and powder and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts.

4. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets (I used a medium cookie scoop, you can make them whatever size you want, including big giant sized, just adjust baking time accordingly.)

5. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool for a few minutes on the pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

After mixing the dough I almost added another egg, it was a little dry. The cookies are fine, just not as soft and chewey as I like. Next time I'll reduce the flour by a 1/4 C or so. I have read that adding a Tbsp of corn starch to the dough keeps the cookies tender, although I haven't tried it yet. You can replace the butter with shortening or do a mix of the two, but I like using all butter. It tastes better, and although shortening is lower in fat and calories, I think that since butter is a natural product with only one ingredient, it is overall healthier for your body than the long list of oils and artificial flavors and colors in shortening. Just remember moderation. :)

Pecan Roll-Ups

• 1 C butter, room temperature


• 1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, room temperature


• 2 C all-purpose flour


• 1/4 tsp salt


• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract


• 2 C pecan halves (or chopped, they work fine too)


• 1 C powdered sugar

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer) beat butter, cream cheese and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine flour and salt, and gradually add to the butter mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours, or until easy to handle.

Divid dough in half. On a surface dusted with flour or powdered sugar, roll out one portion of dough into an 18"x8" rectangle. Cut widthwise into six 3" sections. Cut each section into 3"x1" stips. Roll each strip around a pecan half, or pinch of chopped pecans, place 1" apart on on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Roll in or dust with powdered sugar. Store loosely covered, or freeze up to 3 months. YEILD: 8 dozen

Buttery and rich, a little flaky and crunchy, these are a perfect holiday cookie! They are a bit time consuming, but soooo worth it. When rolling them out, I recommend dusting your surface with powdered sugar to help impart a little bit more sweetness. I think using flour would make them bland. These are nice because they are much less sweet than most holiday goodies. I'm not very good at rolling dough into a rectangle. The first half of dough I didn't do a very good job on. It was too thick and the cookies ended up being a little doughy. The second half of dough I did a bit better on. I shaped the dough into a log before rolling, then I took more time to get it shaped better. That second batch turned out much nicer. Also make sure you do not under-cook these. Some cookies are forgiving of a little underdoneness, these are not.

Orange Scones with Chocolate Drizzle

Come join the fun at the MyBaking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Scharffen Berger!

I adapted this recipe from a scottish scone recipe I got from Molly Wizenberg's book A Homemade Life. (I'm sure it's on her blog, Orangette, as well, but I didn't get it from there.) Her recipe calls for lemon zest and crystalized ginger. I'm definitely not a ginger fan, so I skipped that part and used orange instead of lemon zest. And so I could include it in the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats recipe contest (vote for me!), I added a lovely chocolate drizzle on top. I've made these twice now, once last night, which my husband and I promptly devoured, and again this afternoon so I could photograph them.

Even though a couple of the instructions are a little weird, they are pretty easy and quick to put together. She tells you to smoosh the butter into the dry ingredients with your hands, rather than cutting in in with a pastry blender. No idea why, but it gets the job done. Also, she reccomends only kneading the dough 12 times. Twelve is apparently the magic number, any more and the dough will get over worked and be tough. I found it a little difficult to knead exactly 12 times, as this is a very soft and sticky dough, and you don't really knead it like you would bread dough. It's more mash it til it comes together. Anyway, it's easy and soooo good!

Orange scones with chocolate drizzle:

• 2 C all purpose flour


• 2 tsp baking powder


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 4 Tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes


• 2 Tbs sugar


• Zest of one small orange (I didn't measure, I'd guess about a tablespoon)


• 1/2 cup half-and-half, plus a splash more for glazing (optional)


• 1 large egg


• 2 oz chocolate, chopped (any kind you like will do, I used dark chocolate)

Preheat oven to 425

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Using your hands, rub the butter into the flour mixture, squeezing and pinching until mixture resembles a course meal and ther are no butter lumps bigger than a pea. Add the orange zest and sugar and whisk to combine.

In a small bowl, combing 1/2 cup half-and-half and egg. Whisk or beat with a fork until well combined. Add to flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Turn out dough and any unincorporated flour onto a board or countertop. Press and gather and gently knead it until it just comes together. (Not too much! 12 is the magic number here.)

As soon as the dough holds together, pat it into a circle about 1 inch thick--doesn't need to be perfect. Cut into 8 wedges. Place wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment. If desired, pour a little bit of half-and-half into a bowl and brush onto tops of scones to glaze.

Bake 10-14 minutes or until lightly golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. (Best served warm.)

Place chocolate in a small stainless steel bowl and place over a pan of simmering water. Whisk chocolate till smooth, then drizzle over tops of scones. Tip: catch the drips by placing the parchment from the baking sheet under wire rack.

Enjoy with a glass of cold milk!