Whatever Gets You To The Cookie

Let's talk a little bit about acceptance.  I have an uncontrolled, guilt-free weakness for cookie mix.  I don't just accept it.  I embrace it.  Every now and then (whether I am short on time or just want to change things up a bit), I find myself reaching into my cupboard for a little help from my best girl, Betty:

Ain't she sweet?

Betty has a recipe for a terrific little oatmeal chocolate chip cookie*, if you don't mind preservatives now and then (I don't):

(Look at that--a BoxTop, too! A whole .10 for your child's school.  Hope they don't spend it all in one place.)

*Caveat: The next step in acceptance is to acknowledge that although Betty makes a good mix, you have to help her out a little.  You can make it exceptional.  Let's start with the instructions on the back of the mix: 

First of all, I don't care what the back of the package says;  don't you dare use margarine or spread or (Heaven forbid!) vegetable oil.  Stay with unsalted butter.  Accept that butter is the best way to the cookie.

Following the the instructions on the back of the package, add the butter and eggs.  I use two medium or large eggs, not one. 

Today I've got large, so that's what's going in.  However, if you use extra large or jumbo eggs, you might only want to use one.  Two of those super-sized eggs will add too much liquid to the mix.

The batter will look like this:

A bit gooey for now, but we'll fix that soon.

This is where I get a little crazy, but stay with me.  Embrace it.  Add one teaspoon of vanilla.  Vanilla is the key to the baking universe--it just makes everything better.  (Okay, vanilla and butter.  And chocolate.)  But for the love of God, only use pure vanilla extract.  If I catch you using imitation vanilla, I'll take your spatula away for good.

Once you've added the vanilla and mixed everything together, you will want to add 1 to 2 cups of quick oats.  You can use regular oatmeal, but if you do, I suggest you chop it up in a food processor first.  Otherwise the texture of the cookie is too chunky.  It's like chewing chunks of newspaper.  When the mix starts to look like dough instead of a bowl of oatmeal, you've added enough oatmeal.

Dough! I added 2 cups of oatmeal to this batch.

Finally, the most important part:  chocolate chips.  

Meet the Larry, Mo, and Curly of my kitchen.  The wiseguys making everything better.

The chips included with the mix are small and few.  (Sorry, Betty, but it's true.  Acceptance.)  I usually add at least 2 cups of chocolate chips when using this mix.  Let's review:

Upper left: milk chocolate; Upper right: semisweet chocolate;Lower left: chips included with mix; Lower left: dark chocolate

The chips included in the mix are semisweet.  You may use any combination of chips that you like, but I added:  1 cup dark chocolate, 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate, and 1/2 cup milk chocolate.

You can also add 1/2 to 1 cup of unsalted pecans to give it a nice nutty balance.  (Generally speaking, if you're nutty, I do think it's best to be balanced.)  When adding chips, my philosophy is simple:  the dough is just the glue to hold the chips together.  It's all about the chips.  When done adding the chips, it should look something like this:

No nuts added today...just wasn't in the mood.

Follow the remaining steps on the back of package and soon enough, you'll have a delicious cookie waiting for you:

No guilt about not starting from scratch.  No hipster philosophical discussions about "authenticity."  Whatever gets you to the cookie.  Have a seat.  Pat yourself on the back.  Acceptance is a delicious thing--especially with a glass of milk. 

She's Got Some Nerve!

Field Trips and Special Guests No. 2:

Patty Chang Anker has Some Nerve

Patty Chang Anker...she's one tough cookie!

On a crisp fall day not so long ago, my not-so-new new friend, Patty, and I were sitting in Antoinette's, our favorite café, talking about her uplifting new book:  Some Nerve: Lessons Learned While Becoming Brave.  

There's Patty on the cover...diving in!

Four years ago, Patty had begun a blog, Facing Forty Upside Down, chronicling her journey to take charge of her fears (and life) by doggedly facing down one fear at a time.  Patty's personal quest soon blossomed into a group effort, as her loyal blog followers joined her and started facing fears of their own.  (Including me...I faced down a fear of needles by having acupuncture, but that is another story.) 

So, there we were sipping lattes and talking about her upcoming publication date.  It was a few weeks away, and she was planning a "pub. date" celebration, but there was one problem:  "I need a Some Nerve cookie!" she confided.  Because, of course, no celebration is complete without the perfect treat.  

How could I resist?!  "Just tell me what you want," I said, though inside I was already making a list of ingredients.  "Something with nerve...with kick," she confided.  "And chocolate," I said.  I knew just the thing...

Baking is funny:  few failures are beyond redemption. (Unless they involve salt.  There is just no way to resuscitate something after over salting.)   Many years ago (think 1990s), I stumbled across one recipe--Oatmeal Thumbprints--in my favorite cookie cookbook that was an absolute failure:

My beloved Rosie's cookbook

The Oatmeal Thumbprints that were not. See that big X? That's my note to myself: these don't work!

The problem?  The cookies tasted great, but they were flat.  Absolutely, positively flat.  No thumbprint remained after baking....no matter how many times I made them.  I place the blame squarely on the copy editor and proofreader.  I am quite sure the recipe was correct when Rosie gave it to them, but somewhere along the line, something went wrong.  But the cookie tasted pretty good anyway, and all these years I've thought to myself:  "I should do something with that little cookie.  Fix it up somehow."  Turns out all I needed was some nerve....

I started with Rosie's Oatmeal Thumbprint That Is Not, and tried a few things to give it a little kick...like this:

Time to get your ginger on....

Surely a little Chili Powder would add some kick!

Suddenly I had plates full of cookies:  

So many choices: 1/2 dark chocolate & ginger; 1/2 dark chocolate & ginger & chili powder; covered in dark chocolate with ginger and chili powder

many were half-covered in dark chocolate with ginger and chili powder ("Some Nerve"); a few were fully covered ("Alotta Nerve").  Time to call in the expert...Patty came over to give them a taste...

Some Nerve or Alotta Nerve?

 

Kick!

We agreed that all three were good, but life's too short to eat cookies that are just good.  I want a cookie that makes me beg for just 1 more.  Something was missing:  spice.  Pepper?  Allspice?  Maybe spice in the cookie itself?  I was not sure.  Time to bring out the big guns:  

The Grand Dame of my kitchen:  Cook's Illustrated Cookbook

After reading a few ginger bread recipes, I decided to add ginger, cinnamon, and cloves to the dough.  I nixed the chili powder entirely.  But most important of all:  I followed a hunch and cut back on the butter from 2 sticks to 1.5.  Lord Have Mercy!  Half a stick of butter:  That, my friends, is the difference between success and failure in a thumbprint cookie.  Suddenly I had an oatmeal spice thumbprint cookie with more kick than a Rockette in the Macy's Parade.  

I ran over to Patty's house for a new tasting...she was thrilled!

 

They look so unassuming, but they pack a punch!

 

Patty even added pepper to hers!

It takes Some Nerve to make success out of failure...are you up for the challenge?  If so, give these cookies a go!

Some Nerve cookie:  Oatmeal Spice Thumbprint Cookies with Dark Chocolate and Crystallized Ginger

This glorious little thumbprint cookie looks unassuming but packs a sophisticated punch.  I use dark chocolate with crystallized ginger to fill in the thumbprint (instead of the traditional jam filling). They are perfect with a spot of tea on a crisp fall afternoon or cozied up by the fire with a glass of red wine.

1.5 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cups quick-cooking oats

3.5 ounces dark chocolate with crystallized ginger*

* You can buy dark chocolate with crystallized ginger already in it, or you can buy the chocolate and crystallized ginger separately and make your own by mincing or chopping the crystallized ginger and adding it to the melted chocolate.  

 
First things first:  
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Cream:

Butter sugar, and vanilla

Mix with a high-speed mixer on medium-to-high for about 2 minutes, until the ingredients are fluffy.

Fluff, please

Add:

Slow the mixer and add the flour, spices, and salt.  After these are folded together, turn the mixer to a high speed and beat until well mixed.  Turn the mixer off and scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Next, turn the mixer to a low speed and add the oats until completely folded into the dough.

Now you’re ready to form the cookies.  Using a teaspoon, scoop out the dough and form it into a ball by rolling it between the palms of your hands. 

Small, round and full of kick!

Place the balls of dough 1.5 to 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.  Once the baking sheet is full, use the backside of a ¼ teaspoon measure and make an indentation into the middle of each cookie:  

Be patient. This takes time.

Basically, you are making a bowl in the dough.  Yes, technically you can use your thumb, but when I do that, I always end up with dough under my nails, a big mess on my hands (literally), and a wonky-looking hole in the cookie.  Trust me: the measuring spoon trick is much better.  While baking, the cookie will flatten out significantly, but still leave enough of a rim to hold in the dark chocolate/ginger filling.

Press gently...

work patiently...

almost done!

Bake the cookies for 13 minutes—they should be just turning golden on the edges, like this:

While the cookies are baking, melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler.  If you do not have a double boiler (I don’t), take a medium saucepan and put about 1.5 inches of water in it.   

Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn it down to low.  Put a second, smaller saucepan on top of the one with the water in it.  Break the chocolate with crystallized ginger into the smaller saucepan and stir while it melts.  The ginger crystals will not melt, and that it fine.

Once the cookies are done, let them cool for about 5 minutes before filling with the melted chocolate mixture.   Scoop about 1/4 teaspoon of the chocolate mixture into each cookie.  Once the chocolate has cooled a little (about 10 minutes or so), you can put the cookies in the fridge or freezer to help the chocolate set.  Or, you can eat them straightaway savoring the gooey chocolate center.  However, if you are storing them--whether for a few days in a cookie jar or a few weeks in the freezer--you want to set the chocolate first.  Otherwise, they will be a mess.

And there you have it:  small pools of chocolate wonderfulness just waiting to be devoured.

Who drank all that wine?  Oh yeah...oops.

But what I really want to know is this:  What failure (or fear) will you turn into sweet success?  Let me and Patty know!  Because surely by now you know:  Life's what you bake it!