Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was in the mood to make chocolate chip cookies, as I often am. It's a rainy & cold morning in Seattle and it seemed like a good treat to bake. I have a friend coming over today. Her husband has recently died (he was murdered - big story in the Seattle area - http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/musicnightlife/2009501190_twisp20m.html) and she has been having a difficult time. She has 4 children and they all love my cookies. I'm going to wrap them up really nice and have her bring them home to her kids. It's a small gesture but it will bring a smile or two, I'm sure. I can't even imagine what she has been going through.

Today's recipe is from a blog that I enjoy reading. http://ladolcivita.blogspot.com/ aka The Busty Baker.

This cookie recipe has both cake flour & bread flour. The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of salt which sounds a little heavy handed to me. I made a double recipe and used 1 tablespoon total. It was perfect and still more than I am accustomed to adding in my cookies. Ok, I will admit to one change (well, besides the salt). In my double recipe I should have used 8 sticks of butter but I used 6 sticks and then 1 cup of shortening. No reason - I just did. The double recipe made SO much dough that I had to dump it out of my mixer and add the rest of the flour and stir by hand. Crazy! Oh, I guess there was another change I made but it's a pretty standard change for me now on all of my chocolate chip cookie recipes. The oven is supposed to be set to 350 degrees but I set it on 320 degrees. I like the inside to be thoroughly baked when the outside is a nice golden brown and not too dark.

This is definitely a wonderful recipe but no better than 20 other ones that I have made. It's all a matter of preference. One thing that I do like about these, they don't bake up super flat. They aren't super thick but just right. I'm sure if the dough had been chilled, they would be even thicker. Give it a try!

The bowl above is huge! But my mixer was overflowing so I had to use it! It's a bitch stirring thick chocolate chip cookie dough by hand.

The edges are slightly crispy & the middle is chewy.

As always, I used half milk chocolate chips & half semi sweet. I had to use a boatload of chips since there was so much dough.

Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Based on a recipe from the Busty Baker blog
Originally from Martha Stewart

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
3 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 pounds chopped chocolate (I used 3 kinds of chocolate chips: chunks, regular chips, and mini chips)



1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 2 batches, mixing until just combined. Stir in chocolate until well combined.

3. Using an ice cream scoop for large cookies, or a cookie scoop for smaller, scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until lightly browned but still soft, about 18-20 minutes for larger cookies, and 13-15 minutes for smaller cookies. Cool slightly on baking sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.