Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was having one of those days when I knew "it's going to be all right" but everything still sucked anyway. I was tightly strung between mild irritation and steady annoyance, which basically meant I wasn't in the mood to tolerate foolishness. To anyone throwing yet another hackneyed cliche in my face, BEWARE. You've been warned.

Cookies don't actually solve anything in real life. They don't pay the bills. They don't stop the nosy neighbor from staring at you just because you're Korean also. They don't make fake friends go away into la-la land. But there's something about a freshly baked cookie straight from the oven...cooled just enough for you to break into two pieces...perfectly chewy from the caramelized sugar inside the dough...aroma of chocolate and sugar and butter swirled together like a halo around your head...

Yeah, I needed a cookie. I needed a cookie badly.

"Whole wheat" and "cookie" maybe shouldn't play in the same sentence, but as long as it's a yummy mouthful, I'm game.

I actually love when I get to bake with whole wheat flour. It's got this rich, toasty aroma that I love in breads and cookies. I love the extra chewiness of a anything that's baked with whole wheat flour. 

Like muffins? Try these blueberry-blackberry muffins. One of my favorite (and easiest!) breads to bake is this one that has toasted walnuts and dried cranberries incorporated into a rich molasses dough. If you're in a gutsy mood, you can even make your own wheat thins at home. What a boss.

I'm thinking in my little head loaves and loaves of honey oatmeal breads, pizza crusts, strawberries-and-cream scones, herbed salmon cakes that can all be made with whole wheat flour. Oh my. Future blog posts, maybe? Hint, hint.

Of course not everyone may like the texture of whole wheat flour in baked goods, but if you're up for a little substituting, it's worth buying a bag at the grocery store. This recipe (and many other baked goods recipes) uses what's called white whole wheat flour. That's like the regular whole wheat, except softer in texture, as if you're using all-purpose. I used regular whole wheat, because I happened to have a bag in my pantry, and I personally really like it as it is. Either way it's good to add in whole grains to what you're cooking. Try it when you can :)

 

I have a little thing with every new cookie recipe I try. In my opinion, the better-behaved the dough, the more I like it and will babble about it. A good cookie dough, to me, is one that's held together well, minimally sticky, and easy to scoop and shape. It's so wonderful when unnecessary mess and fuss can be avoided.

This recipe yields a good dough. You'll like it.

These are called "soft" cookies for a reason. When baking cookies in general, it's tempting to want to bake them for an extra minute or two. It's common, and totally understandable. Most of the time, depending on your recipe, kitchen, even the climate, you may need to adjust the baking time if necessary.

For these cookies, however, once the bottoms are barely beginning to brown, that's it. They're done. Take them out of the oven, let them cool, and eventually the tops will deflate and cook from the residual heat.

...Like so.

I love pretty foods so much I can't even deal. They're one of the greatest blessings on earth.

Happy baking!

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

*yields about 32 cookies*

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour (I used regular Whole Wheat)
• 2 2/3 to 3 cups (16 to 18 ounces) semisweet chocolate chip

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°:F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

To prepare the dough: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugars, honey, vanilla, espresso powder, and salt until smooth. Beat in the vinegar, egg, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir in the flour, then the chocolate chips, mixing just until combined. Drop the dough, by tablespoonfuls, onto the prepared baking sheets. A tablespoon cookie scoop works well here. Want to make smaller cookies? A teaspoon cookie scoop will yield about 6 dozen 2" cookies.

To bake the cookies: Bake the cookies for 10 to 11 minutes (9 to 10 minutes for smaller cookies), until their bottoms are barely starting to brown (gently lift one up to peek). They may appear quite light and "undone;" that's OK, you want them to stay soft, so don't over-bake. Also, if you're using a darker cookie sheet without parchment, they'll probably need to bake for a slightly shorter time. Remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool for 10 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.  

From King Arthur Flour