Yep. I am. From Smitten Kitchen. Have you read her blog? If not, you should. Deb lives in NYC and has a tiny tiny kitchen. Not the normal kitchen found in most homes in America – but a proper tiny kitchen. Like you’d find pretty much anywhere in the UK unless you have a gigantic house or castle in the countryside with an AGA. I started reading her blog around 2008-2009. Once I realised I was moving to the UK, I was confident that if she could cook in a tiny kitchen, my kitchen in Scotland wouldn’t be any trouble. Or in England.
NYC kitchen photo courtesy and (c) Smitten Kitchen
Except I still really don’t cook. You’ve seen my attempts. Same with baking. I can get on a roll (no pun) though, and when I do, my waistline expands considerably. Like last week. Craving chocolate chip cookies. Not really a “thing” here in the UK. 101 cookies/biscuits of every form in the store except those. So, back to the recipe I’ve used time and time again over the years:
Crispy Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour (plain flour in UK speak)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup (190g) packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar (white sugar, not icing sugar)
- 1 Tbsp (15ml) vanilla extract (you can use less if you want)
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 cups (about 12oz) chocolate chips (semi-sweet, dark – your choice)
- chopped walnuts if you want (I WANT!)
Pre-heat oven to 325F (165c). Line cookie sheets with parchment or Silpat mat (or grease as needed).
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In another bowl, cream melted butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Beat egg, egg yolk, and vanilla into the melted butter mixture until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients, chocolate chips (and nuts).
(I chilled the dough for about 1/2 hour but you don’t have to). Drop the cookies onto the sheet (about 12 will fit on a standard sized cookie sheet) about a tablespoon at a time. Bake approximately 15-17 minutes (mine were about 17-20min but they’d been chilled too). Let sit for about a minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
I had approximately 36 cookies. Not including the bit of dough I ate (no, I do not believe eating raw cookie dough will kill you – I’ve been doing it for 40+ years, however, use caution as there are raw eggs in the mix!) Additionally, the last time I made them, I only had dark brown sugar which made the cookies really dark and a tad hard to tell when they were done in the oven so back to the light brown sugar it is!
Really, they are crispy and chewy just like Deb’s recipe. My dad and I ate them all in 48hrs. Oink.
The fancy, professional photos are from Smitten Kitchen and the copyright/trademark belongs to them!
Covered in Dog Fluff 