February 23, 2015
There is nothing like a warm chocolate chip cookie on a snowy afternoon. Michael had fellow students over again this afternoon to work on a group project so I decided to make a double batch of Bennet’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. It was a great excuse to feed my own sweet tooth as well.

This recipe comes from Brian Bennett, a friend and neighbor who is both a good baker and good cook. I do alter his recipe a bit but either way, these are REALLY delicious. I add some whole wheat flour, flax meal and oat flour and do not use quite as many chocolate chips as Brian does. These are crispy on the outside and very gooey on the inside.
Ingredients for a double batch.

I believe, as I’ve noted on my tips and bits page, that one of the best tricks to really good cookies is to let the dough chill for several hours or overnight before baking. Today I only let them chill about 2 hours and the cookies spread out a little more than usual. When the dough is really cold, it takes the butter longer to melt so the cookies retain a better mounded shape. I froze half of the dough to bake sometime in the next few weeks or month.

Creamed butter, sugar and eggs.

It is really important to cream the butter and sugar very well. This will give the cookies a nice shine when they bake up. Also, add one egg at a time to really incorporate well into the mixture. Last, when adding the dry ingredients, I try not to overmix. When the big clumps of flour are just beginning to smooth out into the dough, I add the nuts and chocolate chips. Oftentimes I have to hand mix the rest -so the chips do not get broken up too much – and so that the flour doesn’t get over beaten and make the cookies tough. I use 2 of 3 cups regular flour, then make one cup a combo of whole wheat flour, flax meal and oat flour (I grind up old fashioned oats in a blender to form a flour). This adds texture and some good nutrients, but doesn’t make the cookies too dense.

all dry ingredients. Either use a sifter, or mix well before adding to the wet mixture.

Last, I often mix different types of chocolate and chocolate chips in the batter. Today I used my favorite Ghiradelli Bittersweet chocolate chips and chopped up some Hershey’s Kisses for a variation of sweet and bittersweet. Brian’s recipe calls for 48 oz of milk chocolate chips in a single recipe! For the life of me, I cannot get that many chocolate chips mixed into the dough – there doesn’t seem to be enough dough to hold all of the chips! Today I used about 44 oz of both kinds of chocolate for a double recipe – so almost half of what he uses. You can skip the nuts, but I think they really add to the flavor of the cookie. I have used both pecans and walnuts and like them both equally.

My biggest mistake when baking these is cooking them too long. You can take them out of the oven when the centers still look light brown and not totally set. They will cook a bit longer as they cool on the cookie sheet until you remove them to a cooling rack. The outer edges will be crunchy and the middle more cake-like and soft.

Sweet Tooth Heaven

Preparation time at least 3 hours with chill time included.
One batch makes about 3 dozen 2" cookies

Ingredients

2 sticks butter (salted or unsalted both work)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
3 cups flour (or 2 cups white flour with a combo of oat flour, whole wheat and flax meal to make 1 cup)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 (24 oz) bags milk chocolate (or combo of different chocolate) chips
2 cups chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350′.

Mix all wet ingredients with heavy duty mixer. Be sure to cream butter and sugar well before adding vanilla and eggs.

Sift or mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add flour mixture into wet mixture just to incorporate. Add chocolate chips and nuts. You may have to hand mix to finish.

These are really good to make into big cookies with 1/4 cup scoop. Space them at least 3″ apart and bake for 15 minutes. If you make smaller cookies, they will bake in 9 -12 minutes.

Let cool on the cookie sheet until the chocolate sets, about 5 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack.

 

Notes