Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Tutorial Tuesday: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tutorial Tuesday

Tutorial Tuesday's design is to visually share money saving food preparation techniques along with easy and inexpensive recipes. This week I'm happy to share how easy (and delicious) homemade chocolate chip cookies are to bake!

Ingredients: sugar, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, butter, eggs, vanilla and chocolate chips. ***If you happened to have candy bars laying around your house (or in your freezer, like at my house! What I can't smell, I won't eat!) you can chop them up to use instead of the chocolate chips! Dark chocolate bars make the yummiest cookies!

Note:
I am using the recipe on the back of Nestle chocolate chips, but I am baking my cookies with Hershey chips- since specifically packaged Hershey products are not processed in facilities that also process nuts, and we have nut allergies in our family. I actually have stepped up my baking so that I have treats on hand, ready to take to parties, church and special events for my son to eat when everyone else will be eating treats that he cannot eat because of his allergy.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda and salt.

In your mixer, combine and beat the (softened) butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla.

Once the above ingredients have creamed together, add the eggs, one at a time.

After the eggs have both been thoroughly combined...

Start adding the flour mix into the mixer a little bit at a time.

Once the flour and butter mixtures have been thoroughly combined- start adding the chocolate chips!

While my first (well... only) pan of cookies was baking in the oven, I made three small plastic storage containers of homemade 'break and bakes' for my freezer! I smushed enough dough into each container for 9 cookies, and then I slid my knife through the dough to make separate cookies for easy breaking and baking later! *Too many already baked cookies in our house usually means that I will single handedly consume quite a few... and frozen dough ready to bake means yummy fresh baked cookies without pulling out my mixer any. time. we. want!!!

After 18 minutes in my 375* oven... we sat down as a family and enjoyed some yummy chocolate chip cookies and milk!

Recipe Recap:
2 1/4 cups of flour
3/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) of soft butter
2 large eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups of chocolate chips

7 comments:

Ashley

I've never considered making my own "break and bake" cookies. So you just smushed dough together, then cut then froze? Does it come back out of the container easily?

Thanks!

Lydia

I love the idea of freezing cookie dough...I've thought of doing it but was never quite sure how to. I'm wondering too if you bake the dough while still frozen or if you thaw it first. And do you bake it at the same temp and length of time as normal.

Laura Webber

Ashley,
I purposely put the dough is flexible containers so that I can pop out all nine of my cookies (dough) in a single block, and then the knife streaks will help me to break them apart!

Lydia,
I will bake these cookies while they are still frozen! I will pop them in the oven for the 18 recommended minutes and then I'll decide (by sight) if they need another couple of minutes!

ashley

"Too many already baked cookies in our house usually means that I will single handedly consume quite a few..."

This made me laugh! When I buy those break and bake cookies they never even make it to the oven. I just eat a few raw ones everyday until they are gone!

Laura Webber

Ah yes... the joys of convenience comfort foods... especially those purchased for FREE!!!

Andrea

I am making my cookies. Thanks for the ideas!

Laura Webber

Hi Andrea,
Eat a cookie in my honor please!!!