Sunday 23 January 2011

The Cookie (no more explanation required!)

The Cookie
(adapted from Gesine Bullock Prado)



Ingredients (makes approx 20 large cookies)

2 ½ cups all purpose flour
¼  cup bread flour
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 large egg white
11 ounces  unsalted butter
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

Add ins

I divide the dough in half, putting 1½  cup chocolate chips in one and ½ cup each of chopped pecan nuts, dried cranberries and white chocolate chips in the other.
(you can choose what you want to put in these but work on 1½ cups of add ins per half of the dough, so if you’re making all choc chip...3 cups.)
Procedure
preheat oven to 180ยบ

-Cream together butter and sugar.
-Add eggs and egg white, one at a time.
-whisk together dry ingredients and slowly add to the mixer, being VERY careful not to over mix.
-fold in the add ins
-Use a  large cookie/ice cream scoop, space the cookies 3 inches apart.  Then flatten them with the palm of your hand (this works best if your palm is wet, so the dough doesn’t stick to you!).

-Bake the cookies for 15 minutes or until slightly golden

For a good chewy cookie here's the trick....during the baking, about every 5 minutes, open the oven and take the cookie sheet from the oven and SLAM it down on the counter and put straight back in the oven.  You see,  the cookies start to puff a little (of course they are, they have leavening in them) so to keep them  CHEWY and flat  slam that cookie sheet every 5 mins to counteract the leavening puff.  
Sounds crazy, but it works!