Monday, August 22, 2011

Chocolate chunk cookies

Since I started baking, I buy lesser cookies since I like to bake them myself at home. Not to say I don't buy them at all, there's still stuff that I crave occasionally - think Oreos, Pepperidge Farm cookies, Lotus Caramelised Biscuit...

I'm constantly craving a good chocolate chip cookie. I recently tried a new brand of cookies - Fox's Chunkie Dark Chocolate Cookies and I really liked them. I slowly savoured the pack I had, and when I finished the last one, I knew I wanted to try my hand at making something similar at home instead of cheating and just grabbing another box of delicous-ness from the supermarket.

 Mise en place for chocolate chunk cookies

 Equal sized cookie dough balls


There are tons of chocolate chip cookies recipes in books and online web sphere, I had bookmarked several and have tried out a few recipes previously. While delicious, the cookies don't provide the satisfaction I get when I bite into store bought cookies - think either a Pepperidge or Fox's cookie. There just seems to be something missing somehow.


 Freshly baked cookies

While these cookies are certainly yummy, I'm still on my quest to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe (no easy feat I'm very sure). There's two camps on the topic of the perfect chocolate chip cookies - the I think I've found THE recipe and you guys out there should all try it too camp, and the I'm still searching camp. Obviously I'm in the latter group. Everyone has different personal preferences so what might constitute as the perfect flavour for one tongue might not be so for another.

These cookies were certainly rich in flavour from the dark muscovado sugar and browned butter used in the recipe. The wholemeal flour used in these also resulted in a chewy nutty flavour. One key tip in making chocolate chip cookies - use chopped chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips. The chocolate chunks melt during the baking process and remain gooey long after the cookies are removed from the oven (several days after even). So if you want melty chocolatey goodness oozing from each mouthful of cookie, you know what to do. ;)

On a side note, I'm flying off tomorrow early morning (catching an early 1am flight!) for my vacation in Seoul. Simply can't wait! The thing is, the Sis checked the weather forecast today and it's reputed to be raining every day except for our first and last days. :( Our depressing. Oh well, hope I do enjoy myself shopping and eating! See ya all in a while!  



Chocolate chunk cookies (adapted from Meeta at What's For Lunch Honey)
(makes ~50 cookies)

250g wholemeal flour
50g oat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp sea salt
180g unsalted butter, melted
200g dark brown muscovado sugar
100g caster sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 vanilla bean, insides scraped
150g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped into chunks

Preheat the oven to 160C. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside.
In a medium bowl sieve the flour, baking soda and sea salt together.
Whisk together the melted butter with the sugars until creamy, then add the large egg, extra yolk and vanilla innards to the mixture. Whisk again and then add the flour. Continue whisking the mixture for a few minutes. Add the chocolate chunks and fold in. The cookie dough should feel almost dry now and look like a solid lump. Make sure the chocolate chunks do not all cluster in one part of the dough. Chill in fridge for 2 hours.
Using a 1/8 cup, scoop small chunks of dough on the baking sheets. (I baked 10-12 cookies per tray)
(I froze half the batch by scooping the dough into equal size portions on a clean baking tray, then stuck it in the freezer. When the dough balls are firm, I popped them from the tray into a ziplock bag and just returned it to the freezer. Hello to cookies when I have the cravings!)
Bake on the upper-middle shelf of the oven for 14-17 minutes (depending on chewy or crunchy preference) or until the cookies are golden, the sides feel firm to the touch but the centre is still quite soft. At the 7-9 minute mark, use a flat spoon to smoosh the tops down, rotate the tray and return back to oven to continue baking.
Cool the cookies on the baking sheet/cooling rack. Store in a cookie jar.

4 comments:

  1. Wow. I've never heard of anyone liking store-bought cookies more than homemade cookies. Once I started learning how to bake, I stopped liking store-bought cookies again b/c the taste is so different. You don't taste the butter and the salt like you do with homemade varieties. Even my aunt, mother, and students say the same thing. I hope you find a good recipe soon! You should try Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies or the New York Times CCCs. Your photos are gorgeous BTW!

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  2. ooooo i am yet to find THE recipe too, in fact i kind of dont bother trying as theres too many recipes out there that i cant choose where to start! But this does indeed look like one gorgeous choccy cookie you have made :) lovely!

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  3. haha, it's more of the texture issue? i prefer the store bought ones cos they can achieve the perfect texture i always want, for me, im always baking either too chewy or too crunchy cookies, not the perfect chewy innards and crispy edges type. and yes i prefer the flavour of homemade of cos! and i've tried the nyt ccc but i thought it was just okay. :)

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  4. Haven't made homemade cookies for so long....it's prob time for me to make some as well =)

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