A Plague of Cookies
I made two more batches of cookies today, but there was so much variation in the resulting cookies because of cooking times that it is more like five batches of cookies. It is so difficult to pick a favorite. Gentleman Caller and I keep sampling cookies. We must be fair to the cookies.
Batch #8 "Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies"
This recipe came off the butter flavor Crisco packaging. It differs from the other recipes by using all Crisco (of course) and no butter. It also calls for milk. The recipe gives a range of baking times: 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies or 11-13 minutes for crisp cookies. Also, instead of cooling on racks, the recipe specified cooling the cookies on a sheet of aluminum foil on the kitchen counter. I disobeyed and cooled them on foil on the dining room table. Whoops.
Batch 8A: Cooked for exactly 8 minutes. Looked slightly underdone, very light color. Cookies kept their shape. Gooey when warm, soft and chewy when cooled. Good flavor.
Batch 8B: Cooked exactly 10 1/2 minutes. Lightly browned and cracked/pitted tops. Also kept their shape. Little bit crispy, but also soft and chewy. Good flavor. Gentleman Caller called this the "Jack-of-all-trades of cookies" because it appeals to those who like soft and chewy and those that like crispy. I liked this one best of the three Batch #8 varieties, and enough to send to the next round.
Batch 8C: Cooked exactly 13 minutes. Golden brown with a smooth surface. These cookies also kept their shape nicely. Both crispy and chewy. Good flavor. This was Gentleman Caller's favorite of the Batch #8 cookies.
Batch #9 "White House Chocolate Chip Cookies"
This recipe came from a cookbook called Dessert University, written by the White House executive pastry chef. I don't own the book, so I'm not sure where I originally came across the recipe. It specifies use of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. I have one, so that's no problem. But a hand mixer would do just as well. Once the batter has been mixed, you have to refrigerate the dough for an hour. You can freeze the dough at this point, for as long as one month. I refrigerated it for an hour, on the dot. The unique ingredient in this recipe is molasses. Ah, molasses. I had already started mixing and combining ingredients when I discovered I had no more molasses. Aack. Dedicated to the Snackdown, I changed out of my pajamas and went to the grocery store, totally abandoning my plan to remain pj-clad all day long. I hope you appreciate the sacrifices I make for my self-imposed cookie conquest. Molasses in hand, I resumed the snackdown. After mixing and refrigerating, the batter had to be shaped and flattened by hand into the proper cookie shape. I baked one tray for 8 minutes (the minimum time) and one for 10 minutes (maximum amount of time). Again, with very different results. What a difference two minutes makes.
Batch 9A: Cooked 8 minutes. Looks exactly like a cookie should. Golden brown color with a slightly darker middle where the chocolate chips melted and spread out a bit. The cookie kept its shape and the molasses flavor is very distinctive. Gentleman Caller thought it was interesting, in a good way, and liked it enough to add to his top three favorites so far.
Batch 9B: Cooked 10 minutes. Dark golden brown, a little too dark in the way that looks like I forgot about them in the oven and remembered just as they were on the brink of burning. Crispy texture; molasses flavor, interestingly, is not very apparent.
So far, GC has picked Batches 1, 7 & 9A to move to the next round. I have picked Batches 4 & 8B. Batches 2, 3, 5 & 6 are losers.