21 Ways to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes you just need a break from daily life to make a batch of cookies.

I suppose I should speak for myself.  Sometimes I need a break from the work to bake a batch of amazing cookies.  Some might consider me to be a bit obsessed with baking cookies.

However, I maintain the claim that home made cookies have a few amazing benefits:

- They are delicious

-Baking is a stress reliever

-Baking cookies makes people feel happy (and that's always a good thing) at least for a little while.

No matter how many of cookies I make, chocolate chip cookies remain my absolute favorite.  But just because they are my favorite doesn’t mean that I only make one kind.  No, I like to play around with the cookie that started my love affair with baking.

My mom used the Tollhouse Cookie recipe when I was growing up so naturally that has to be the first option on the list.  Feel free to peruse the list and if you have a recipe you don’t see on there, please leave me a comment (with the recipe of course so I can make it!)

Disclaimer:  I’ve made all but a few of these recipes.  The ones I have not yet made have the * by them (which means they will be made in the very near future).

By the way, I typically use semi-sweet chocolate chips (unless otherwise mentioned) but the chip of your preference will go well with any of these recipes.

1.   The Original Tollhouse Recipe

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/18476/original-nestl%C3%89-toll-house-chocolate-chip-cookies/detail.aspx

2.  Whole wheat chocolate chip cookies

The key to these cookies is to have enough sugar to offset the texture of the flour.  I first saw this recipe in a Whole-Wheat Baking book that I gave away during my last move.  I can’t remember the exact recipe but here is how I make them:

2 cups of brown sugar (compacted)

2 cubes of butter

2 eggs

2 tsp. of vanilla

1 tsp. of baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

3 cups of wheat flour

2 cups of dark chocolate chips

 

Cream the butter and sugar and add the eggs.  Then add in the next four ingredients followed by the flour (one cup at a time).  Finally add in the chips.  I use a table teaspoon (not the measuring teaspoon) to measure out a full teaspoon of batter- nine to twelve on your parchment lined cookie sheet, however big your cookie sheet is.

Bake at 350 for 9 minutes.  The tops will be light brown.  Allow cookies to cool on the pan for one minute before transferring them to a cooling rack (or foil on the counter!)

 

Whole wheat flour has a nutty flavor to it.  It is a denser texture and without the extra sugar (most recipes call for 1 and ½ cups of sugar) it is a bit intense.  Play with the proportions to find your favorite.

 

3.   Scrappy Chocolate Chip Cookies

You’ve heard the expression, “necessity is the mother of invention?”  So true in the case of my Scrappy Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I didn’t have all the ingredients needed so I made do with what I had and the results were quite nice.  I’ve made Scrappy Cookies twice (to be sure I could replicate the results) and they’ve turned out well both times.

1 cube of butter (1/2 cup)

½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

¾ tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

2 cups white flour

1 cup wheat flour

1 cup oatmeal

½ cup of chocolate chips

You will notice there is the same rhythm of preparation for most of these recipes.  First cream the sugar and the butter.  Add the oil followed by the eggs and vanilla.  Add in the salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Mix in the flour and the oatmeal.  Stir in the chips.

Bake at 350 for nine to ten minutes.

Tip for dolling out the dough:   I like to use large teaspoons of dough to dollup my batter onto the cookie sheets.  However, if you prefer larger cookies, use a tablespoon for your batter, don’t put more than nine cookies on a sheet and increase the time to 12 minutes.

4.   Add in nuts.  Try different nuts for different flavors:  walnuts, peanuts, pecans.

5.  The Cure for PMS in a cup.

I’ve put the brilliant recipe from pastry chef Rianne on the blog before.  Just in case you didn’t catch it the last time, here is the link: perfect for a single serving of cookie delicious-ness.  (and it really does help you feel better!)

Link:   http://artofdessert.blogspot.com/2012/08/quick-fix-microwaveable-chocolate-chip.html

6.  Cookies-in-a-brownie

O.k. so I have never done this but I REALLY want to.  I guess you make brownies and then plunk in dollops of your favorite chocolate chip batter?  Really?  O.k. don’t take my word for it cuz I need to experiment.  I’ll let you know in a future post.

7.  White chocolate coconut oatmeal walnut cookies

LOVE THESE COOKIES!  I found this recipe on a Martha Stewart cookie-of-the-day (yes, I subscribe to a cookie-of-the-day email.  I might have a sickness. I’m going to Cookie-Addicts Anonymous- a great place for recipe exchanging).

LINK HERE: http://www.marthastewart.com/338172/white-chocolate-chunk-cookies

8.  Double chocolate chunk cookies.

O.k. since we are on a Martha Stewart kick here, I’ll throw one more doubly good chocolate chip recipe.  It’s a good one for the days when you need chocolate WITH your chocolate.

http://www.marthastewart.com/316712/double-chocolate-chunk-cookies

9.   The Chocolate Chipper for Guys.

Some people like to throw dried fruit in their chocolate cookies.  By “some people” I mean guys. Big smile here.  I’m not a huge fan of this but I like to make something for my sweeties.  Americas Test Kitchen adds raisins to one of their chocolate chip cookies.  Martha Steward adds dried cherries with dark chocolate (not semi sweet) for a Valentines cookie.  Try it out.

10.  Coconut chocolate chip cookies.

Come springtime I get obsessed with coconut.  It starts going in everything.  Flaky goodness that’s sweet and springy.  I like to add about a cup to my batter of Tollhouse cookies.  Sometimes I get crazy and decrease the flour to 2 cups and add in 1 cup of oatmeal and 1 cup of coconut.

11.  Mix different chips together.

There is so many to choose from:  dark, semisweet, milk, white. Then there is the sizes.  You can chop bars (which taste different- why is that?), mini chips, regular chips or big-hunking chips.

12.  Make `em healthy cookies.

O.k. so I guess cookies can’t really be healthy, healthy but I try.  This is my healthiest version of cookies:

¾ cup sugar white and ¾ cup brown sugar

¾ cup butter

2 eggs (you can just use egg whites if you want to be super-duper healthy)

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

½ cup white flour (unbleached)

1 cup wheat flour

2 cups oatmeal

½ 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips

 

I’ll be honest.  I could probably do better and I should play around with this recipe.  I think I could substitute honey for some of the sugar.  While honey has sugar, it has a number of surprising health benefits.  I’m not sure if baking the honey takes away from those benefits?  If you  are trying to cut back on your gluten intake, these will be great because there is less flour.  And, there is no reason you can’t play with other flours (such as spelt) and enjoy the health benefits.

 

13.  Peanut butter chocolate chips.

This is a super easy way to include some protein-rich peanut butter flavor to your cookies.  Take your favorite chocolate chip recipe and substitute ½ cup of butter (normally one cube) with ½ cup of peanut butter. Dorie Greenspan shares this tip in her fabulous book, “Baking.”  I think I left this book with my Krislyn when I trekked out to the East Coast.  Hopefully she is keeping it safe for me…..

 

14.  Chocolate chip cookie bars

I’m a bit of a cookie monster snob at times and bars don’t quite do it for me. Oddly enough I love brownies and other bar type desserts.  I just like my cookies to be that:  cookies.  But, if you have lots of mini cookie monsters running around causing general chaos this might be a great way to save time and keep everyone happy!

 

To make bar cookies, take a 9x13 and your standard chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Don’t forget to grease the pan before you put in the batter!  Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  The top should be a light brown.

 

15.  Add Hershey’s cocoa for a quick change.

I know I included Martha’s recipe for Double Chocolate Chip Cookies above but sometimes I need a simple solution.  Like last night when I added in ¼ cup of Hershey’s baking cocoa to my batch of cookie batter.  I needed a bit of a change. (I’ve been in a streak of chocolate chip cookie making the past few weeks).

 

16.  Brown butter chocolate chip cookies.

This is a fun recipe and I highly recommend you try it.  I don’t think I got it quite right (my cookies didn’t look like the picture from America’s Test Kitchen).  Then I found a recipe on the Cooking Light website.  So there are less calories and browned butter.  Very nice.  Make sure you pay attention to the butter on the stove!  I can’t find the America’s Test Kitchen recipe but here is another one from Cooking Light:

Link:  http://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/recipe-makeovers/browned-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies-00412000077590/page2.html

 

17.  This isn’t a recipe but it is a hint if you like really chewy cookies.

The kind of sugar you use affects if your cookies are chewier or not chewy (softer).  The dmore dark brown sugar you use, the chewier your cookies will be.  However, using all dark brown sugar (for you hardcore chewy cookie fans) can present a problem.  The cookies are so chewy they can turn into cow patties.  Play around with it.

18.  Molasses chocolate chip cookies  *.

Kind of a weird combination?  I’ve been hearing about mixing molasses cookies with chocolate chip and I need to try it.  I haven’t tried this one but it sounds good.  Plus the blogger baker is a local Bostonian.  Cool.  AND she has a thing for cinnamon rolls – all kinds!

Link:  http://www.beantownbaker.com/2011/01/chewy-molasses-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

 

19.  Chocolate Chip Cookies from the New York Times, adapted from Jacques Torres. *

 

Here is a recipe that I want to try but haven’t. Why haven’t I?  Because the point of the recipe is to leave the batter in the refridgerator for 24-36 hours.  Do you think chocolate chip batter is going to sit untouched in this baker’s refridgerator for 36 hours?   You thought right.  Still.  It’s supposed to be wonderful so I should really exert some self-discipline and do it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/091crex.html?_r=0

20.  This is a recipe I got from Bernie, a great respiratory therapist who is also a fabulous baker.  She shared a few favorites with me.  This is a great one for when there is no butter in the house!  I left the directions just as she wrote it to me (thank you Bernie!)

Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 1/2 c. shortening
3/4 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten in one at a time
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda dissolved in 1 1/2 tsp. hot water
3 c. flour
4 tsp. water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1  12oz. pkg. chocolate chips (whatever flavor you prefer - dark, semi-sweet, etc.)

I usually combine all ingredients and put the flour in last.  But add it slowly unless you like flour all over the place (if you're using a mixer, which I do.)  If you want walnuts in you can add about a cup.  I rarely put nuts in because my oldest daughter is semi-allergic to them (scratchy throat).

I bake them for about 9 - 10 minutes.  Of course, they're best right out of the oven after cooling for, oh, maybe 30 seconds

21.  It's Valentines week.  Add pink M&M's to the cookies and give some to the sweet people in your life.

O.k. I want to hear from YOU   If I have left out a fabulous recipe I want to know about it!  Please let me know your favorite way to  make chocolate chip cookies.   Happy Friday everyone.