chocolate chip cookies

Salted Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies & The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap

Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cancer, Pediatric Cancer, Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, Cookies for kids Cancer If doctors would prescribe baking to their patients, one might say “that the world would be a happier place.” I know, I know, don’t judge me for possessing a bit of childlike whimsy. But what if cookies had the capability of curing the worst of illnesses? And what if you could choose the type of cookie that cured your unwanted illness or disease? What if a chocolate chip cookie were capable of curing the chickenpox , a simple sugar cookie doused with sprinkles could cure pneumonia or just maybe a salted peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookie took away your cancer?

My cookie choice for this year’s Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap was inspired by this notion, the notion that cookies have the power to heal. And it was my desire to chock this cookie full with all of my favorite things from chocolate to peanut butter and a warm bowl of oatmeal in the morning. So needless to say, these cookies are best enjoyed fresh from the oven. And don’t cut your self short, I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips, Good Spread Peanut Butter, Dixie Crystals brown sugar, local eggs, and Land O’ Lakes unsalted butter. Lets cut to the chase, if you’re trying to cure an illness or disease, you should probably use the best ingredients available. The Salted Table

If you’re not familiar with the Cookies for Kid’s Cancer, its a non-profit formed to fund research for pediatric cancer, the #1 disease killer of children in the U.S. It’s an organization that is near and dear to me since my father in law, and wife have both fought the disease and my mother in law was currently diagnosed with it. We never plan on life handing us these tragic occurrences but when they do, a cookie in hand couldn’t hurt anything.

When these cookies came out of the oven, I couldn’t help but to smile. For One, they smelled like an autumn day from my childhood — two, they were purty, and when cookies come out looking beautiful and idea, it always puts a smile on this ol’ heart and its my hope that they will do the same for you. Merry Christmas to you and yours, be sure to eat your fair share of cookies, they may keep you from an unwanted illness…fingers crossed and prayers up. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Salted Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup AP flour – unbleached
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp kosher salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, room temp
½ cup Good Spread peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon Nielsen Massey vanilla extract
1 medium egg
½ cup Quaker old-fashioned oats
1 cup Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips

1 Tablespoon of kosher salt for sprinkling

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheet pans with Dixie Crystals silicone baking sheets.

2. Whisk together the AP flour, baking soda & salt; set aside.

3. On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 2 minutes or so. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low-speed, slowly add the flour until just combined. Stir in the old-fashioned oats, and then the chocolate chips.

4. Use a large ice cream scoop (roughly 3 tablespoons) & drop dough onto silicone baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with kosher salt according to your preference. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden (slightly undercooked). Cool completely on the silicone baking sheet & then store in an airtight container. Do not put cookies in the fridge…unless you like cold cookies.

Goo Goo Cluster Chocolate Chip Cookies

Goo Goo Cluster Recipes, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Nashville Recipes, Cookie Recipes, Chocolate

Goo Goo Cluster Chocolate Chip Cookies

This summer heat is working me over like crazy and even the sweat beads on my brow are becoming frustrated. Its like the sun has a vendetta and its unleashing hell and taking names, literally. But as far as I’m concerned it could never be too hot to eat chocolate or break into a textbook chocolate chip cookie. Chocolate chip cookies are my sacred-kind of childhood snack and you may call me a snob when it comes down to it. I mean, cookies run rampid on the inter webs, being stuffed with nutella and laced with truffles for the so-called ‘real foodies’ but you can keep those. I’m somewhat of a purist when it comes to the circular, sometimes amoeba-shaped little puckets that pair so well with cold milk and shakes alike. Yes, milkshakes and cookies are sheer perfection, just ask my inner eight year old, he’ll tell you all about it.

Goo Goo Cluster Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cookies, Chocolate Recipes, Nashville Food Bloggers, Bloggers, Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies, Goo Goo Cluster Chocolate Chip Cookies

Goo Goo Clusters were the equivalency of currency in our home and a treat to be savored upon the completion of one’s chores. My mother kept them tucked into the third shelf of what was better known as the snack cabinet. There were bags of Doritos, Moon Pies, Oreos and Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies, because those were my dad’s vice along with bottled coke.

I remember being in the line at the grocery store and spying the sweet treat laced with peanuts and dipped in chocolate sitting snug in the silver packages on the shelf. They were always calling my name and appealing to every desire in my four and a half foot being. Whenever I received my allowance I typically bought whatever I saw first because the money was ‘burning my pockets’ as my mom would say, and back then you could find the Goo Goos three for a dollar. So quite naturally I bought six.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I find joy in partaking in the most simplistic forms of dessert. I have a great appreciation for those creatives who taking something ordinary and make it extra-ordinary, but at the heart of it, all I desire is the textbook chocolate chip cookie, a moist slice of chocolate cake with the perfect amount of frosting, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and maybe a drizzle of chocolate or caramel sauce. I went on the search for a cookie recipe that gave me the crunch around the edges, the chew in the center and the cookie that when you bit into it, nothing else matters and just for a moment–for a brief and satisfactory moment, you are the only person that matters. And I hope to give that to you today with these cookies. Now, remember to read all the way through the recipe before you begin, and definitely space your cookies the three inches apart because the nougat and caramel will cause your cookies to spread significantly, but thats not a bad thing in this case. Enjoy.

Goo Goo Cluster Chocolate Chip Cookies

Goo Goo Cluster Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 cups AP flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, melt slightly & allow to cool slightly
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons Nielsen Massey vanilla
2 cups chopped Goo Goo Cluster chunks (Original & Supreme)
1/2 cup of %60 cacao bittersweet chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Cover your sheet pans with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, set aside.

3. Beat together melty butter & sugars in a large bowl with a Kitchen-aid mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy, but do it gradually so you don’t have a mess on your hands, about 2 to 3 minutes. Lightly beat 1 egg with a fork in a bowl & add 1 3/4 tablespoons of it plus 2 remaining whole eggs to the butter mixture, beating with mixer until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and mix in the flour mixture until just blended, then stir in Goo Goo chunks & chocolate chips.

4. Scoop 1/4 cup batter for each cookie, placing the portions 3 inches apart, on 2 baking sheets. Flatten mounds into 3-inch rounds using moistened palm of your hand. Form remaining cookies on additional sheet pans.

5. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Remember that oven temps vary so keep an eye on your cookies. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool and continue baking off the rest of your batter and cook it off.

Note: I have tried this recipe after dough has been frozen so I’m not sure how well it would work out but if you try it let me know!

Goo Goo Cluster Chocolate Chip Cookies

Three Decades and Salted Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

Salted Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies I simply don’t know where to begin. It’s been thirty-years of life here on this earth, breathing in this air , writing down my thoughts in books with tattered and torn edges. Thinking about ways to make life one big coffee break on a patio in a foreign country, or maybe just in my own backyard? What is age truly? Simple numbers on a piece of paper awaiting to be marked off in a brisk motion lined with disdain and contempt for yet another year of aging? Or maybe I’m being a bit dramatic?

It’s been thirty years, and in those thirty-years were born my insatiable love for ~~food~~–I mean chocolate. I’m not sure what to share with you. I feel as though at times my life has been such a roller coaster ride–one in which I wanted to get off of many-a-time. But I can truthfully say that “I wouldn’t change a thing.” And yes, I’m fully aware of how cliché that statement is but it’s too late to drink coffee and wait for fresh phrases to surface.

If you look back over your past and find that there are things that you desire to change. You end up living a life stuck in the past and you become a victim of your past mistakes–living like this can be debilitating and you’re worth more than that, I’m worth more than that. Life is to be learned from and we are only to focus on the future not the past. I’m looking forward to what the next three decades will bring. I mean, just in the last ten years, I found my beautiful wife, we fought cancer, moved to Nashville where we have successful careers and purchased our first home. Now, I’m not insinuating that life has been idea, there’s a whole slew of bumps in the road, grey skies and unplanned events that are meant for another post. But that’s enough ranting for now, let’s talk cookies. Salted Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

My wife, Jenna, is no baker and she refuses to pretend to be and I’m ok with that because if need be, my girl can bake break-apart cookies like a champ. She’ll tell you that her mom tried to get her in the kitchen and she declined with pleasure every-time. So I wasn’t surprised when she walked in the door with one of my favorite desserts, chocolate chip cookie cake! Ahhhh, it’s a beautiful thing and has been one of my favorite birthday gifts since I can remember and oh yeah, I occasionally get a jones for Pillsbury funfetti or strawberry cake. Guilty!…judge away!(#noshame).

I feel like I have been blessed beyond all that I deserve. God has been so good to me despite my constant neglect of Him in my life from day-to-day. You know, when you feel as though life is just too busy to stop and pray or simply tell Him thank you for that brisk wind beneath your chin. Life is a thing of beauty and I look forward to another three decades of taking it all in, appreciating the little things more often and stopping to say, thank you for a life I never could’ve created.

So clearly, my wife and I are fans of chocolate. It’s safe to say if dessert comes up in conversation, we’re typically on the same page unless I’m having a gummy candy craving. But these chocolate chip cookies have been taunting me from Food52 for quite some time now. I’m always keeping my eyes peeled for the perfect chocolate chip recipe that doesn’t need a ‘secret ingredient’, just the perfect balance of sweet and savory as it should be. There’s not a whole lot of things more satisfying than a well-executed textbook chocolate chip cookie and I know–I know, we could go around and around about salty over sweet and dark over milk, crunchy over chewy. But the truth is–for me, the ‘perfect’ chocolate chip cookie gives a little when you apply pressure with your finger, like a ripe avocado. The edges shatter and leave a trail of salty and bitter tip-toeing around your palate and last but certainly not least–the chewy center. I remember as a child eating the edges of the cookie first and the slow destruction of that chewy center always left me longing for one. more. cookie.

And this recipe I’m sure will leave you with the same nostalgic feeling of course, you must change some of the wording and make the story your own, so on and so forth. Enjoy these as much as I did last night. The last. day. of twenty-something. Salted Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

Salted Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups French Broad Bar Chocolate (coarse chopped)
1 cup large bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup salted & toasted whole almonds, coarse chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar, tightly packed
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
2 River Cottage Farm eggs
2 teaspoons Nielsen Massey vanilla extract

pre-heat oven to 375° F. Sift flour, baking soda, and kosher salt. Set aside. Mix together coarse chopped chocolate and chopped nuts. Set aside. On medium speed in a standing mixer, with the wire whip attachment, cream the butter and sugars until well mixed and light (you’ll notice a change in color). Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add one egg. Mix for a few seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add second egg. Mix for a few seconds. Scrape down the sides. Add vanilla. Mix for a few seconds. Scrape down the sides.

You’re going to add the sifted flour mixture in 4 rounds, stopping before adding the final round. For the first 3 rounds, mix at low speed just to combine, scraping down the sides between each addition. When you get to the final round of flour, add the chocolate chip/nut mixture. They will get a bit crushed. That’s okay. Mix until there’s barely a trace of flour visible. Don’t over-mix. Sometimes, it’s better to be safe and do the final bit of mixing by hand. Set up a sheet pan with a silpat or parchment paper. Bake one tray at a time or they will all cook at different rates. Make them spherical, not flat. The cookie size is up to you. I find the bigger they are, the better ratio you have between gooey interior and crisp exterior. 2 ounces is about right for that. Leave a few inches between the raw cookies. Place sheet pan in the oven. They cook relatively fast at this temperature. I didn’t bother setting a time. My internal cookie alarm is pretty good about keeping track. Somewhere around 8-11 minutes. Make some coffee and wait.

They’re done when they’re brown and crispy on the outer border and raw in the very center. Remove the sheet pan and allow them to cool for a few minutes, then, with a spatula, transfer cookies to a cookie rack to cool. And I must tell you the cookies are even better the next day, so if you can stand it, its worth the wait. If you’re not going to eat them right away, they should be frozen. If you’re not baking them off right away, portion them out with an ice cream scoop, place them on a sheet pan, and freeze them. Once they’re firm, store them in a sealable bag. Works great to bake them off when they’re frozen. Enjoy.

Whatever it is you’ve been thinking about today. Stop. Clear your mind and imagine walking barefoot down a gravel road. You can feel the bits of rock press into your heel and nudge between your toes. You hear an unclear voice in the distance. A sound of comfort. A familiar sound. You walk up a set of creaky steps that lead to a creaking porch. The screen door opens as if involuntarily inviting you in. Your nostrils overwhelmed with the aroma of something sweet. The warmth of the oven glides up the side your leg and there sitting atop an old checkered kitchen towel are cookies. Not just any ole cookies. Grandma’s chocolate chip cookies. The same ones that you’re parents ate when they were kids. That’s what chocolate chip cookies do to me when I see them. They take me down that nostalgic road to Grandma’s house.

So naturally, last week, when I went on the search for a chocolate chip cookie recipe. I had to do my research. There are so many cookie recipes out there and a lot of them. Well, just don’t measure up. One might be too salty and another might be too dry or runny. But not here friends. We have the perfect combination of salty, sweet and chewy or crunchy. depending upon your preference. This recipe is an adaptation of The White on Rice Couple’s Recipe. And if you’re not familiar with Diane and Todd’s work, then shame on you. They’re passion for food and photography is truly inspiring. But anyways, enough of me being a groupie. Enjoy these cookies and if you haven’t grabbed a Father’s Day gift yet. Well, you’re welcome.

I made a few changes of my own to this recipe because I was trying to avoid a trip to the grocery store. And well, thanks to this recipe. Crisis averted! I used semi-sweet chocolate chips as opposed to the dark chocolate. I also used bleached flour but left the baking soda in addition. No harm, no foul. Now off to the kitchen.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 sticks unsalted Butter
2 medium eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
3 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375° F (350° for convection ovens)

Beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy or 3 to 4 minutes after you no longer hear the sugar scrape the sides of the bowl. (assuming that you use a standing mixer). Add eggs, vanilla extract, and salt.
Mix the flour and baking soda together. Stir into batter, then add chocolate chips and stir until well combined.
Roll into 1 1/2″ thick logs. If not using soon, freeze the logs for future use, otherwise cut the cookies into equal portions, about 3/4″ thick.
Pat the discs even and circular then place on a cookie sheet or lined sheet pan. Spread your cookies out so they have personal space, no one wants rub elbows in a hot oven.
Bake at 375° F for 8-11 minutes, and check them so that they are still a little undercooked in the center. Unless you prefer a crunchier cookie. After the cookies cool for a minute, transfer to a cooling rack and grab a glass of milk. You deserve it.