Three Ways to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies

A girlfriend messaged me recently to ask for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe. She said each time she makes chocolate chip cookies they fall flat...literally, flat and crispy.  Well, I hear ya' sister!  Chocolate Chip Cookies are supposed to be basic, but they can be surprisingly tricky.  And a chocolate chip cookie that's not absolutely great, just simply isn't worth having.

Here are three ways to make delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies, from super easy to a little more complicated but worth every morsel.

Ridiculously Easy, Never Fail 
First off, the easiest way to make these treats...semi-homemade.  I posted about Faking It with these cookies awhile back.  Basically you take premade cookie dough, like Pillsbury or Tollhouse, and using your electric mixer stir in more chips (I prefer butterscotch or pb) and nuts.  Then bake.  They seriously taste like the best homemade cookie and no one needs to know you didn't technically make the dough.

Your Standard Homemade Cookie, Cookie

For Buckaroons you basically mix the
ingredients you see here and voila,
you have cookies.

This is the recipe I grew up eating and my mom, sisters and I still make.  Buckaroons! The twist, and what makes them taste so good, is the oatmeal.  I also add in peanut butter chips because pb, chocolate and oatmeal is like the triple threat.  Hear me on this though, do not substitute butter for the shortening. I learned this the hard way. The cookies will not be the same. 


Buckaroons

1 Cup Shortening
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
2 Cups Sifted Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
2 Cups Rolled Oats
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 package chocolate chips

Cream together shortening and sugar.  Add eggs and beat.  Sift together flour, soda, baking powder and salt.  Add to sugar mixture.  Mix in oatmeal, vanilla, and chips.  Drop by spoonfuls and bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Buckaroons.  These cookies taste like home.

A Bit More Complicated, But So Good They're Addicting

My friend Jeanie raved so much about The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies I had no choice but to try them, though I was skeptical they could really be as good as she promised.  Oh how I was wrong!  These cookies are THE BEST chocolate chip cookies I've ever had.  They do take two kinds of flour, two types of salt, not your standard chip, and over 24 hours to make but they are worth every ingredient and slowly passing minute.  

You can find the recipe here on The New York Times website.

Here are my tips:
Bread flour is pretty easy to find, but cake flour can be more difficult.  To make two cups of cake flour just combine 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour and 1/4 cup cornstarch.

Set your butter out a bit early so it softens just a tad.

Don't go searching for gourmet chocolate disks or feves.  Most grocery stores, including Wal-Mart, carry Ghiradrdelli 60% Bittersweet Chips, which are much much larger than your standard baking chip.

If you simply can't handle the anticipation and must eat these cookies before letting the dough chill for 24 hours (like me), make a few balls of dough and put them in the freezer for a few minutes. Then follow the baking directions as normal.  Then you can wrap and chill the rest of the dough for tomorrow.

I couldn't wait the 24 hours for the dough to chill.
I put a few samples in the freezer for ten minutes and baked.

The salt on top makes all the difference.
I ate three of these cookies while typing this post.