NaBloPoMo Advice Column - Day 26 - Always Have the Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Cookies On Hand

I'm writing 30 thoughts in 30 days for NaBloPoMo. In no particular order, I'm giving you my worldview - as it comes up.

Sometimes, either one or both of my children need some down-time and can't figure out how to provide it for themselves.

Sometimes, either one or both of my children need something homemade to make them feel a little bit special.

Sometimes, we've gotten into a rut with dinner, and we need to do something really different to break out of it.

And sometimes, I just want a chocolate chip cookie which always brings back lots of great memories for me.

For all of these times, I turn to my cabinets and start assembling, or having my children assemble, the needed ingredients. We then take turns mixing everything together, and then my tasters set to work to make sure the batter is delicious, or "perfecto", as Helen has taken to saying. Often, I'll bake a few at the end of a meal, if the oven is already hot.

Here's my recipe, which I got out of the Potomac Crescent Waldorf School newsletter a few years ago. It is, by far, the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I've ever come across and I have shared it a lot, after people try the cookies.

Enjoy!

Magical Stove Top Chocolate Chip Cookies
(recipe makes about 18 large cookies or 24 medium sized cookies)

Ingredients:
  12 T butter
  1 cup dark brown sugar
  1/2 cup granulated sugar
  1 whole egg
  1 egg yolk
  1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  2 cups plus 2 T flour
  1/2 tsp salt
  1/2 tsp baking soda
  12 oz chocolate chips (I almost always use dark chocolate Ghiradelli chips)

Mix & Chill:
1. melt butter over low hear in large saucepan or dutch oven, remove pan from heat.
2. whisk in sugars until mixed thoroughly
3. whisk in egg, yolk, and vanilla
4. pour flour, salt, and baking soda on top of mixture and mix with rubber spatula
5. add chocolate chips and stir until combined (works best if chocolate chips are frozen!)
6. scrape dough into a lidded container and refrigerate for an hour or so

Bake:
1. preheat over to 325 F and adjust racks to middle position.
2. line baking sheets with parchment
3. take a scant 1/4 cup of dough and form into a ball, then break the ball in half and as much together sideways, leaving the broken faces pointing upward
4. bake 12 - 14 minutes
5. cool on a sheet as long as you can stand it

Elaine

Building a worldview:
Day 1: Surround Yourself With Brilliant People (though my friend Susan makes a good point that clever is pretty good, too).
Day 2: Whatever, it works.
Day 3: Surround Yourself With Beauty
Day 4: When You Go Through Something New - Drag Someone With You
Day 5: No sweatpants.
Day 6: Embrace the Crazy
Day 7: Listen to Your Friends or Fight Old Fogey-dom. Get out there. Keep experiencing fun, new things.
Day 8: Don't Let Anyone Sell You Short
Day 9: Take a Lesson From Your Child
Day 10: Consume the best chocolate you can
Day 11: Help your neighbor.
Day 12: Take Breaks
Day 13: Establish a Realistic Rhythm
Day 14: Sometimes, you just have to ask.
Day 15: Loose Lips Sink Ships
Day 16: Stop Things from Going from Bad to Worse
Day 17: Understand the Price of Success
Day 18: Question Everything
Day 19: Drink Great Wine with Old Friends
Day 20: Never Be a Volunteer at a Street Show in New Orleans
Day 21: Let Your Friends Bail You Out
Day 22: Turn Trash Into Treasure
Day 23: Always Have a Dream
Day 24: Give Thanks
Day 25: Develop Your Own Sense of Style - and Own It!