I BAKED Chocolate Chip Cookies

And I didn’t bake just any chocolate chip cookies.  I baked BAKED’s chocolate chip cookies.  They were everything a chocolate chip cookies should be, thick, soft and chewy in the middle, caramelized and crispy around the edges, and studded with chocolate chips.  I brought these to a “calculus study session” and they were all gone by the time my friends and I hadn’t even started “studying calculus.”  In our defense, how could you study derivative and integrals when there is an entire container of freshly baked cookies within your reach?

Answer:  It’s impossible to focus on the derivative of anything except that of the rate at which the cookie will be entering your mouth.  See?  Calculus can be useful in real life.

On a graph of f’(x), displaying the derivative of my stomach’s contentedness and fullness level, I found the value that corresponds to a relative maximum on the graph of f.  In other words, these cookies made me (and my stomach) very happy and full.  Now, if only calculus were as easy as baking and eating chocolate chip cookies…

Chocolate Chip Cookies from BAKED New Frontiers in Baking  (makes 24)

Ingredients (Matt and Renato recommend to use the best quality ingredients you can find, I recommend the same.  In something as simple as a chocolate chip cookie, it’s important to use great quality ingredients that will elevated your chocolate chip cookies from just simple, to outstanding.)

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (I used white whole wheat)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, soft but cool
• 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups (16 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda together.
2. Beat the butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated.  The mixture will look light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla and beat for 5 seconds.
3. Add half the flour mixture and mix for 15 seconds.  Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until just incorporated.
4. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Cover the bowl tightly and put in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line two baking sheets.
7. Use an ice cream scoop with a release mechanism (or not) to scoop out dough in 2 tablespoon size balls. Use your hands to shape the dough into perfect balls and place them on the prepared baking sheets (I found that I had to press them down a bit or else they didn’t spread as much as I wanted them to), about 1 inch apart.  Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pans once during the cooking time, until the edges of the cookies are golden brown and the tops just start to darken.
8. Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.  Use a spatula to transfer the individual cookies to the rack to cool completely (or you could transfer them to your mouth instead).

These cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

I’m sorry, I lied.

I’ve gone and done it again.  I’ve baked some brownies.  And on top of that, I lied to you.  I’m dreadfully sorry.

I really should go stand in the corner for a time-out because this behavior is simply unacceptable.  There I was telling you how I had found the perfect brownies and then – BAM! I find THE perfect brownies… again.  I’m sorry, I guess I lied to you.  But I really didn’t know it at the time; I didn’t know about these buttery, chocolaty, dense, brownies with an irresistibly crackly, crispy crust while I was preaching to you about the chewiness and moistness of Cook’s Illustrated brownies.  But I would be lying again if I told you the Cook’s Illustrated Brownies weren’t perfect – they were – just in their own special way.  Maybe more than one perfect brownie can exist.

But hopefully I can make it up to you by providing you with the recipe and strongly encouraging you to go make these.  Really, you should.  And after you’ve had your first, second, maybe third brownie, maybe then you can find it in your heart and in your satisfied stomach, to forgive me.

P.S. There is a high probability that more perfect brownies may be found.  I’ve accepted that nearly all brownies are perfection because really? How could you go wrong with butter, chocolate, and minimal flour?  You really can’t.

P.P.S. I’ve been focusing a lot on my senior exhibition for the past few months, and I still will be for the next few, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop cooking or baking!  So in addition to more brownies, also expect an eclectic mixture of dinners, baked goods, rants, and quotes.

Supernatural Brownies

Ingredients

• 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) butter, more for pan and parchment paper
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, such as muscovado
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or 3/4 cup whole walnuts, optional – I threw in some peanut butter chips because, why not mess with perfection?

Preparation

1. Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking pan and line with buttered parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, or on low power in a microwave, melt butter and chocolate together. Cool slightly. In a large bowl or mixer, whisk eggs. Whisk in salt, sugars and vanilla.

2. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Fold in flour just until combined. If using chopped walnuts, stir them in. Pour batter into prepared pan. If using whole walnuts, arrange on top of batter. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until shiny and beginning to crack on top. Cool in pan on rack.

Note: for best flavor bake one day before serving, let cool and store.  Good luck with that.

Chewy (at last) Brownies from Cook’s Illustrated

Could these be the ones?  Could these be the chewy, dense, fudgy, moist bliss I have been searching for?  They outshone the whole wheat King Arthur Brownies amd every other brownie recipe I have tried.  These were everything they promised to be an more.  They were chewy!  Oh so deliciously chewy!  Delightfully chewy in the crust and just chewy enough even in the middle!  It turns out using all granulated sugar, not brown sugar as King Arthur claimed, will get you that crispy, chewy top.  This is what cooks illustrated says:

“Why does granulated sugar work best? It’s all due to what might be deemed “special effects.” Whether on its own or in combination with corn syrup, brown sugar forms crystals on the surface of the cooling brownie. Crystals reflect light in a diffuse way, creating a matte effect. The pure sucrose in granulated sugar, on the other hand, forms a smooth glasslike surface as it cools that reflects light in a focused way, for a shiny effect. As for the crackly crust, its formation depends on sugar molecules rising to the surface of the batter and drying out during baking. Since both brown sugar and corn contain more moisture than granulated sugar, the surface of brownies made with either of these sweeteners never dries out enough for a crisp crust to form.”

Way to scientific for me, but the point is still the same: granulated sugar is best if you want that crackly, crispy top.  And here’s some more science from cook’s illustrated on the chewiness of brownies:

“The secret to a box-mix brownie’s chewy texture boils down to one thing: fat—specifically the ratio of saturated to unsaturated fat. By using both butter (a predominantly saturated fat) and unsaturated vegetable oil, we were able to approximate the same 1:3 ratio found in commercially engineered specimens to mimic their satisfying chew.”

So there you have it.  Using all granulated sugar and a mixture of vegetable oil and butter will give you moist, chewy, fudgy, dense, delicious brownies.  Is my quest over?  Yes and no.  These were a tad too sweet for me but other than that every flavor, texture, and chocolate chip was my favorite of all the recipes I have tried.  I’m sure if I reduced the sugar by a bit these would be perfect.  And yet I have a few more recipes that are begging for me to bake.  And thus, my quest continues.  Maybe not for the same purposes (finding the perfect brownie) but instead comparing my perfect brownie to others.  Maybe by some miracle I will find a recipe I like even more.

Chewy Brownies from Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup dutch-processed cocoa
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso (optional) – I used it.
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups (17 1/2 ounces) sugar – I would definitely cut down.  I think 2 cups would be sufficient.
• 1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1.2 inch pieces (or just use chocolate chips or chunks)

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Make a sling using the following steps: Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and fit into width of pan in the same manner, perpendicular to the first sheet (if using extra-wide foil, fold second sheet lengthwise to 12-inch width). Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk cocoa, espresso powder (if using), and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in melted butter and oil. (Mixture may look curdled.) Add eggs, yolks, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth and homogeneous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Add flour and salt and mix with rubber spatula until combined. Fold in bittersweet chocolate pieces.
3. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool 1½ hours.
4. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

KAF Brownies

And the quest continues.  I’m getting closer but I’m not quite there yet.  These were perfectly chewy, even after cooled for only a couple of hours.  They were a tad bit more cakey than I would prefer, but I’m not complaining, I mean I’m eating brownies for heaven’s sake.  Although they were cakey they were somehow fudgy and a little dense at the same time.  Don’t ask me how this is possible – could it be the brown rice syrup that I substiuted for corn syrup?  Yes definitely fudgy, I just tried another one to make sure.  Tee he.

On the second day they were just as cakey and they were also a little sticky.  When I stacked some on top of other ones they stuck to each other but the flavor more than made up for it.  These were not overly chocolaty and for some people (ahem, me) maybe not chocolaty enough.  But don’t listen to my chocoholic mumblings.  These are amazing brownies.  They taste like brownies.  You know what I mean?  They don’t taste like pure chocolate, they don’t taste like butter and flour flavored with chocolate.  They taste like brownies.  Really amazing brownies.  They are the kind of brownie that keeps you coming back for more… which might not necessarily be a good thing.  But then again who cares about bathing suit season when you could be eating delicious brownies?  In fact I might just go and eat another right now.  And chocolate chips made everything better, as they always do.  What I loved most about these brownies was how chewy they were, which was because of the addition of a liquid sugar, be it brown rice syrup or corn syrup.

King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion Brownies from this book

Ingredients

• 6 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
• 12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
• 5 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 ½ cups sugar
• 1/3 cup (3 ¼ ounces) light corn syrup (I used brown rice syrup but I think using corn syrup would yield a crispier top- it’s something to do with the chemistry of sugar, I’ll elaborate more on my cook’s illustrated brownie recipe)
• 1 ½ cups (5 ¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter together over low heat. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, vanilla, salt, sugar, and corn syrup together until light and fluffy, which takes a few minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 and lightly grease a 9×13 inch pan.
4. Stir the flour into the chocolate and butter mixture. Fold the chocolate batter into the egg mixture, stirring to combine. Stir in optional ingredients, if using.
5. Spread the batter in the pan. For an extra-glossy top, brush with 1 tablespoon milk. Bake the brownies for 35 minutes; the top should be crisp, but a toothpick inserted in the center will come out coated with chocolate. Remove the brownies from the oven, and let them cool for several hours before cutting into squares.