Page 19 in the old book / page 37 in the new book
The recipe for Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies is one of 39 in the “Drop Cookies” section of the book. They are thin bumpy cookies that are very crisp and have a rich chocolate flavor. I compared the recipe in the old book to the one in the new book and there was one slight change. The new book calls for Dutch process cocoa but the old book only says cocoa. I happened to have Dutch process on hand so I used that. The other interesting difference is that in the old book, Maida Heatter frequently suggests lining cookie sheets with foil, but the new book now suggests using parchment paper. I remember that not too long ago parchment paper could only be found (at great expense) in cooking specialty stores, so I think this change reflects the times.
The dough went together quite easily and most ingredients were things I had on hand. The one ingredient that was a little unusual was light cream. The recipe calls for just two tablespoons. I can’t help but think that with all the butter in this recipe, skim milk could have been substituted without any noticeable difference. The other interesting ingredient is dark brown sugar. I don’t think I’ve used it with chocolate before, but it complements the chocolate beautifully.
These are simple drop cookies with no special handling. The dough is fairly stiff and spoons out easily. The one difficulty I had was with the baking. The recipe says that the cookies should be baked for 12 to 13 minutes and I found this to be too long. It wasn’t until the last sheet of cookies that I finally got the timing right – it turned out that 10 minutes worked best for me (and I think my oven runs a little cool). The longer the cookies were in the more they spread. The cookies that baked for 11 to 13 minutes became thin and lacey and the flavor verged on burnt. After 10 minutes the cookies were still very crisp after cooling, but held together better and had great chocolate flavor. The cookies shown in the picture above were baked for 10 minutes, the one below was longer.
If properly baked, these cookies are rich and delicious with a wonderfully crisp texture.
Next time – Santa Fe Chocolate Wafers.
baked too long
Nutrition Facts
4 comments:
Hi Cathy,
Great idea for a weekly post! The cookies look so yummy, light and crisp. I'd probably be able to eat several of those in between the prep work/baking. Before you know it, they'd be gone and I'd have to start all over!
Thanks Reid - hope you enjoy it! They are very good and easy to eat, but I suspect the amount of butter in them would give you pause!
Ok, seeing this post made me want my own copy (we have her Great Desserts book), so I found one on Amazon (used) for just over three dollars. Had to have it! And Matt should be happy...he'll get to enjoy the fruits of my labor.
Hi Stephanie - that's great! I know you're going to love it (as will Matt I'm sure!).
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