The Classic Cookie

What's the first cookie you think of when you think cookie?

Was it a buttery shortbread cookie? A sandwich cookie like Oreos? Peanut butter cookies? Oatmeal raisin? (I'll get around to making all of those sooner of later.)

No, I bet it was Chocolate Chip. Am I right? If you searched cookie in Google surprisingly, This is what comes up (What!?). But right after that is this (That's more like it). And what kind of cookie is displayed? That's right, Chocolate Chip Mmm Mmm.

The comfort cookie, raw or cooked; the cookie in milk and cookies. The cookie of choice for Cookie Monster (credible source ya?). Why wouldn't it be? They're soft and gooey, with partially melted chocolate chips right after they come out of the oven. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

So of course I had to write a blog about chocolate chip cookies, this couldn't truly be a baking blog without it. So here it is: Chocolate Chip Cookies from scratch.

I don't really have a proper sifter =( so in this case I used a colander. I'm actually lucky I even had that because usually I use a strainer (like this one) which takes forever. The spoon helps push the dry ingredients around so they "sift" through faster.

This recipe was a bit labourous for me as I had frozen my butter and forgot to sit it out so that it would reach room temp. I've read that the best way to bring butter to room temp. is to grate it. So I did, with the only thing that was available to me at that time. This:

The thing was the size of my hand and my fingers went numb from holding it steady from the top. Can anyone tell me what the cuts on the right side are for? That side is dangerous. (Don't mind my finger in the corner there...

In hindsight, I really should've spent a little more time looking around for something more practical. It took a long time and the butter wouldn't fall out the bottom nicely, so every so often I would have to dig it out; not so easy as it sounds.

Edit: I found out there was a giant one hiding in a corner 4 days later, the length of my forearm. Gah!

It was finally done though and looked like this:

It's like silly string butter.

Moving on to the sugars to cream it until my wet sand consistency (aka "fluffy"). I call this... "broken sand castle" wet sand. My brown sugar supports my wet sand vs. fluffy claim and lent in it's colour to support.

                                                                      Eggs were again next.

 Then the dry ingredients                                       and the chocolate chips

At this point it was looking a little dry to me, but then I remembered it was a dough and not a batter. Duh! This was the first dessert kind dough I've made so I was pretty happy it resembled the store bought stuff.  

I wrapped it up tight and stuck in the fridge to chill.

Kinda looks like Rum n' Raisin ice cream. Mmm I can't wait until the weather is warm enough to enjoy ice cream again.

After chilling, I rolled them into golf balls:

And baked them until they were a golden brown on top:

They came out wonderfully soft and gooey, even after they had cooled, with a nice little crunch at the bottom. Don't they look beautiful? I was very proud of myself with these. The first batch was quite large so I made the next batch smaller. I made them in a couple sizes actually, for big appetites and small ones. I try to appeal to everyone.

Best served warm with a glass of milk =) Microwave them for a bit if you must to get the nice warm softer cookie. They were delicious, and totally worth all that prep. Friends and co-workers agree.

So if you know you're gonna be having a long stressful week, let me know and I'll be sure to whip up a batch for you. I think I'm gonna be making these a lot, next time with big chocolate chunks and nuts!  And peanut butter, maybe not all at once...

If you let me know what your favorite cookie is I'll be sure to make those too. =)

Side note: I got followers <3! Thanks to Laura, my baking fairy god sister, Robert, my link to awesome media over Facebook, Francis, who made me realize I can achieve my dreams, Cindy, my world traveling, scheme partner *scheme scheme* and Aimy and Ian, who gave me a little freedom to make a mess of their kitchen (before cleaning it all up).

Pick a baked good and I'll be sure that you'll be one of the first to taste test it once I perfect it. =D