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bake sale week: chocolate chip cookie buttons
Or, if you don’t want to donate these to a school bake sale, might I suggest a new title: Valrhona Chunk Cookies. Oh yeah, that’s right. When I made these today, I made half of the dough with regular chocolate chips for the culinarily uninformed, and the other half of the dough with chunks and slivers of Valrhona chocolate. Lucky for the kids, I’m on a diet, so there may actually be some left after school.
Speaking of diets, bakes sale week always kills me. And as if these recipes aren’t enough, I made these cute little lemon bundt cakes on babble.com today (yesterday? two days ago? It’s late). So be sure to click over and check them out.
But I digress. I need to confess something to the Sophistimom readers before I go any further:
I am chocolate chip cookie challenged.
Remember those chocolate chip cookies I did ages and ages ago? Well, I used to make them all the time, and they always worked out perfectly. Then, out of nowhere, they started baking up flat as pancakes. I don’t know what I did, other than I may have switched from superfine sugar back then, to regular granulated now. I have no idea, though.
Anyway, I don’t like my chocolate chip cookies as flat as pancakes. I know some people do, but I’m not one of them.
But then a few months ago, I was babysitting my friend’s kids. While I was there, she left out a big bag of chocolate chip cookies (that was probably a big mistake on her part—I didn’t leave many behind). They were little, round, and chewy. They weren’t even crispy on the outside. They were so good, that I have been meaning to get the recipe from her since that day back in February.
Today, she gave it to me. And, since I am chocolate chip cookie challenged, I regret to say this is not my own recipe. I didn’t even tweak it. Not one bit. (Okay, maybe a bit, but only to let you know to use pure vanilla instead of the crappy kind, or to tell you how many chocolate chips to put in.)
And now I have the most delicious chocolate chip cookies I could ever want.
Do you see how in that picture, some of the cookies are puffy and round, while the others are flat?
You know, I understand now why I have such a problem with chocolate chip cookies. You’d think they’d be so simple, but there’s about a thousand ways to make them, and anything can make them change in the oven. I honestly think they’re more finicky than cake—and I live at high altitude!
Anyway, the thicker ones I made with Guittard semi sweet chocolate chips, and the flat ones were made with chunks of the Valrhona chocolate chunks. Apparently if you change the chocolate you’re using, it can make all the difference.
So, my friends, you can do what you like with this recipe. It makes a TON! Cut the dough in half, add chocolate chunks to one half, and white chocolate chips to the other. You could press mini candy bars into the top when they’re almost done cooking. Just have fun.
chocolate chip buttons
My friend’s recipe card said that these were the recipe from Grandma’s Touch bakery in Springville, UT. I googled it, and couldn’t find it. So if you’re out there, Grandma, thanks for the recipe!
1 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
6 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4-5 cups semisweet chocolate chips (4 cups is 2 bags)
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth. Add in eggs and vanilla, and cream on medium high speed for 4 minutes. Scrape down bowl as necessary.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and slowly add to mixture. Mix until fully incorporated, but do not over mix. Fold in chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.
3. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until starting to brown.*
*The recipe also gives an alternate cooking temperature and time: Bake at 250 degrees for 20-25 minutes. I tried them both ways. The difference is subtle, but I actually like them better at the lower temperature. But I figured, most of us don’t like to wait that long.
valrhona chocolate chunk cookies variation
Follow the above recipe, but swap the chocolate chips with 12 ounces of valrhona (or any really good quality chocolate) for the chocolate chips. Use a butcher knife to cut the chocolate into 1/2 inch chunks.
16 Responses to “bake sale week: chocolate chip cookie buttons”
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Actually, I’ve done some chocolate chip cooki experimentation myself and had a similar interesting cookie phenomenon occur. It seems these flat vs. chunky cookies that coexist in the same batch are often the result of one or more of the following…
- recycling the same baking sheet for multiple cookie batches
- each oven’s unique dynamics of heat distribution
- the ratio of butter in any given cookie scoop (higher ratios yield flatter cookies, and if the dough sits a while in between baking batches, the ratio may not be the same from the beginning batch to the end batch)
So, you’re not alone!
For as simple as cookies supposedly are, there’s a real art to perfecting them. I’ve yet to completely master that art.
MMMMM….cookies. Don’t care if they’re flat or puffy, just so long at they are cookies!
These look great. I’m always on the hunt for good choc chip recipes. I’m a Valhrona lover, so I’m be using that version.
[...] bake sale week: chocolate chip cookies | sophistimom [...]
I’ve learned that the difference between flat cookies and puffy ones is if the dough is warm or cold before you bake em. Try putting them in the fridge for 10 minutes before, they should turn out much more puffy and not so flat.
I love bake sale week. Those cookies look delish.
Oh Jaime, your bake sale weeks are my favorite!!!!! I am so excited. I agree that CCC are pretty touchy, and everyone has their own way that is “the best.” But I have never met one I didn’t like, and my hips will agree with that:) These look super yummy! Sounds like the perfect Sunday evening treat. Thanks!
I definitely go for thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies, too. These would be a hit in my home for sure. Gorgeous photos!
Made these this weekend. BTW, they do up beautifully as a bar cookie. This is an AWESOME recipe. One of the best I’ve made in a while. I’ve got to make 3 big cookie “cakes” for my nephew’s 5th B-day party in Oct, and this is the recipe I’m gonna use. This one’s a keeper! First time visitor to the site…many thanks!
So glad you liked them, Shan!
Hi Jaime! I love your blog and your contributions to the family kitchen blog. This may sound like a dumb question, but I am CCC challenged, too. Do you think if you half the recipe it will turn our okay?
Dear Jaime,
This is going to be my go to CCC recipe- thanks a ton! I substituted half a cup of whole wheat flour, resulting in browner cookies.
Wow! Made a third of this recipe today, and am having to use all of my will power to stop gobbling these down! My toddler of course loved it
[...] chocolate. It’s not cheap, but it makes the best chocolate chip cookies around. The cookies on the right hand side of the picture are made with Valrhona chunks, and the cookies on the left [...]
[...] Valrhona chocolate. It’s not cheap, but it makes the best chocolate chip cookies around. The cookies on the right hand side of the picture are made with Valrhona chunks, and the cookies on the left [...]
oh the joy of the internet and pintrest! This is a great recipe and makes a large amount of cookies. Eat now freeze some for later
Also, nice to see where it came from… I too am from the small town of Springville, UT.!
Oh, that’s so funny, Allison!! I lived in Mapleton when I wrote that post, and I probably drive into Springville at least 3 times a week!