Cookies are love.

My mother-in-law was not a sentimental person. And, as my husband has said, she didn’t have a religious bone in her body. Quite simply, she was practical, no-nonsense, sure of herself.  Daughter of a prosperous butcher and wife of a successful business owner, she nonetheless exercised a frugality born in the Great Depression. 

She had that flinty edge—that crystalline grit—ineffably and intrinsically a part of so many Irish women. Had she been born in 1970 instead of 1920, I’m certain she would have made a formidable businesswoman. Instead, like so many women before her, she funneled that clear-eyed acumen into raising her five children and caring for my father-in-law who worked six days a week until he was 80. 

For all her practicality, though, she did have a softer side. And it was perfectly expressed in the fact that she baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies every week for over sixty years.

Maid Marian in Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s The Foresters, vows: 

“…while I breathe Heaven’s air

And Heaven looks down on me,

And smiles at my best meanings,

I remain Mistress of my own self

And mine own soul.”

My mother-in-law had other things to do besides baking thousands of chocolate chip cookies. But as mistress of her own self and soul, she chose the cookies.  She chose love.

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Recipe

(yield: approximately 24)

 

INGREDIENTS

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon of baking soda

• 1 cup brown sugar firmly packed

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1 cup (two sticks) room-temperature butter

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 eggs

• 10 oz chocolate chunks (although more chocolate never hurt anyone)

• 1 cup chopped nuts

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375o F

1. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in bowl and set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter, both sugars, and vanilla till light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs, mixing till well incorporated.  The mixture may appear curdled, but not to worry. It will come back together with the addition of the flour.

4. Add dry ingredients and mix until all of the flour has been absorbed.

5. Remove the bowl from the mixer, and stir in the chocolate chunks by hand, to avoid breaking them up.

6. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.  During that time, line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

7. Using a #40 scoop, arrange 12 mounds of dough (approximately 1.5 tablespoons each, if using two spoons) on each baking sheet. These spread, so leave plenty of room around each cookie.  Three rows of four works best for most cookie recipes.

8. Bake for 5 minutes, then rotate the pans top to bottom, front to back.

9. Continue baking for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until edges of the cookies are set but the middles are still somewhat soft.  They’ll continue to firm up as they cool.

10. Allow the cookies to rest on the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. Store at room temperature if any survive that long.

 

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

The world’s your oyster:

• Milk chocolate, semisweet, bittersweet, dark--all work equally well, depending on your taste. 

• Nuts and chocolate, a match made in heaven: pecans and bittersweet chunks; walnuts and milk chocolate; slivered almonds, orange zest, and dark chocolate chunks… oh, my!

NOTE: I do recommend chunks over chips.  To me, even the top-drawer chips tend to leave a waxy taste on my tongue, which chunks seems to bypass. Can’t find a bag of your favorite 73% cacao dark chocolate in chunk form? A serrated knife will make quick work of any bar chocolate, giving you a wonderful array of chunk sizes.

Recipe by Doug Florey, aka Dr. Cookie/ Styling by Keith Recker / Photography by Dave Bryce

Try these cookie recipes as well.

Easy Sour Cream Cookies

Kitchen Sink Cookies

Sunshine Cookies

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