Cookaholics Bulletin Board

So, we make a variation on Toll House chocolate chip cookies here. The original recipe is pulled straight from the Nestle website and modified slightly. Filipino brown sugar comes in two types: light and Muscavado. The Muscavado is very flavorful. So we opted to use that but to keep it from completely overrunning the cookie flavor, we had to back it off in relation to the white sugar.

So, all is well, taste wise, as far as I am concerned. But I get to looking at the CI recipes for variations of chocolate chip cookies and they go on pretty specifically about the use of brown sugar, usually dark brown sugar, to enhance chewiness and flavor of the cookie. Which will probably lead me to do some experimenting with my ratios and trying to work in some light brown sugar to mix. I already know what happens if I try going half and half (per the Nestle recipe) for brown sugar using Muscavado. I basically have a molasses cookie at that point.

The CI recipe for Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies (2009) includes:

1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar (5 1/4 ounces)

So it is significantly over the original Toll House 1:1 ratio that was too much for my taste buds.

The CI recipe also notes:
OUR RECIPE: More Brown Sugar Using more brown sugar than white makes for a chewier cookie.


What I'm probably looking for here, is something along the lines of a bigger, chewy cookie, a la Mrs Fields (as I remember hers from a couple of decades back). Not crunchy, except for the edges possibly.

Anyone played around with these and have experiences they are willing to share?


Tatoosh

The Mrs. Fields recipe that I remember had oats in it, which is how I prefer my chocolate chip cookies. I have used muscovado sugar when I've been out of dark brown sugar, and below is a cookie that I find delightfully chewy with a hint of crunch around the edges. The dough should be pretty sticky. Be careful not to overbake or they'll be crunchy throughout.

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
4 ounces (1 stick) butter, softened
2.5 ounces muscovado sugar
5 ounces white sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
4 ounces whole oats, briefly processed in food processor (or use quick oats)
4.5 - 5 ounces unbleached flour
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add extract, leavening, salt and egg; mix well to combine.

Mix in oats, then flour just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop onto cookie sheets (I use a #30 disher).

Bake at 375 degrees until edges are golden brown. I can't tell you how long they take because my oven is fickle and takes different times depending on its mood.

Storage affects crunch. At the risk of stating the obvious, putting the baked cookines in a sealed contained with a slice of fresh bread will make the cookies chewier.

Darcie, thank you very much for the recipe. I had forgotten the oats as an ingredient of Mrs Fields cookie. We will definitely try your recipe in the Chocolate Chip variations experiment. Plus some sort of modified CI version. While my wife is of the "why change what works" opinion, but I really want her brother, the culinary student, to see some of the differences that ingredients can make in taste and texture. Plus the obvious benefit to my own palate as well.

Kathy's Pete, oh my ... you are not stating the obvious to me at all. Thanks for the tip!

Tatoosh

While I love an oatmeal-walnut-chocolate chip cookie, I wonder if using oat flour would work that same way as rolled oat flakes. I may have to try this.

I very much like chewy chocolate chip cookies and in the past felt that the CI cookies with 3/4 dark brown sugar had too much of a brown sugar flavor. I switched to golden and that helped plus the addition of the egg yolk makes a big difference for the CI recipes. The yolk significantly enhances the chewiness of the cookies so if you can get your sugar ratios where you want them flavorwise, I would give the addition of the yolk a try to get to the texture you want.

There is quite a thread on this at TOBB - but hurry!

My new favorite is the NYT cookies. Leites culinaria.com has good directions for how-to. Really good, chocolatey and chewy. Yummm

I will have to check out the NYT cookies. We ended up doing the TH recipe but modifying it by using the local Muscavdo dark brown sugar, reduced to a 2:1 ratio instead of the 1:1 called for by Nestle in their recipe on the web. My wife loves the cookie bar variation which she puts in small gift boxes with ribbons as part of the traditional Filipino "give-aways" that accompany most parties.

We do the traditional recipe, modified sugar ratio above and with the high altitude amendments: increase flour to 2 1/2 cups. Add 2 teaspoons water with flour and reduce both granulated sugar and brown sugar to 2/3 cup each. Bake drop cookies for 8 to 10 minutes and pan cookie for 17 to 19 minutes. Usually these come out quite nicely and are a hit with guests, many who are not familiar with this version of the chocolate chip cookie.

Howdy, Teresa! Welcome to the Board!