Thursday, November 18, 2010

Chocolate Chip Cookies

So I've managed to complete my first recipe on this journey. As you may be able to guess from the title- I made chocolate chip cookies. If you're my friend on facebook, or follow me on twitter you might be surprised to see cookies here. If you're wondering why people might be surprised it's because I announced over the weekend that my first recipe was going to be cream puffs, but sadly that did not go as planned. Last night I tried to make the Italian Custard Cream used in the cream puffs, but it just did not turn out the way it was supposed to. :( I'm going to keep on trying until I get it right! Even at this moment there is another batch in my fridge, which I hope sets. If you have any tips or would like to try to help me figure it out, that would be awesome!

Now to this week and what actually happened... Since starting this blog a week ago I came up with the idea of providing a grading sheet to everyone that eats the baked good of the week. This way I get feedback for myself, for everyone else and maybe I'll add it to my permanent list of baked goods. So as I mentioned before, this week was all about the chocolate chip cookie (well only after my failed first attempt at the cream puff.) Making these shouldn't have been a big deal, and honestly the recipe was very simple and easy to complete, however making these became a moral dilemma for me.

If you know me pretty well, then you know that my family's specialty is chocolate chip cookies. We have our own secret family recipe, and these cookies are known far and wide. Basically the only way you can get our recipe is if you marry in. Believe it or not, my mom is the creator of the giant chocolate chip cookie cake and used to bake these cookies day in and out. I grew up baking this recipe for as long as I can remember and have never even attempted to try another recipe because why fix something that isn't broken? However, the time has come to try something new, and I must admit- it is delicious.

Carlo's Bake Shop's chocolate chip cookie recipe is very basic and something most people should be able to do. It doesn't take long and the results beat anything that comes from a store-bought package. As soon as I saw the batter coming together, I had a feeling that this recipe was solid. I wanted people to get the full effect of the cookie, so once they were out of the oven and cooled for about 20 minutes I brought a tray over to my student union and gave anyone who wanted a cookie and a grading sheet. Out of 16 people who graded the average was clearly an A! Some of the comments I received were...
"Generous with the chocolate. Nice and crisp around the edges, but still chewy and soft in the middle."
"Excellent texture-- soft in the center, crunchy edges. Good amount of chips-- nice and melty!"
"Yummy. Perfect blend of crunch and softness."

Here's what the final result looked like:



So I guess I can make these again. It's not the same as making the secret family recipe, but it sure is a crowd-pleaser. Now if I can only figure out this Italian Custard Cream... Next week is Thanksgiving, so you might be safe to guess that a pumpkin pie will be appearing in the near future. Even though this week didn't go as originally planned, I still feel confident that I can do this and bake some of the best treats around!

Any comments, feedback, suggestion, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!

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