Wednesday, May 26, 2010

ADAPTING

A few of you (including Dash and Bella) have said: ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THE DAMN PESTOS.

Okay. Got it. Here are some cookies. The  Original Nestle Toll House Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is where I always start. But this new recipe strays pretty far from the source. These are jacked up.

Less flour. Way more vanilla. More brown sugar. Less white sugar. And finish them off with slivered almonds, 3 different kinds of chocolate chips (small, medium, large), dried cranberries, and oats.
I take them out of the oven when the edges are crispy and the very centers are still raw. They remind me of the cookies I used to get at Taylor's Bakery on Hudson St. in NYC. (I just looked it up and Taylor's is closed!) Anyone else remember that place?


CHOCOLATE CHIP OAT COOKIES WITH DRIED CRANBERRIES AND SLIVERED ALMONDS
printable recipe
Inspired by Toll House Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies and Taylor's Bakery.
Makes 18-24 cookies depending on scoop size.

ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
 2 1/2 cups total of chocolate chips (I used a combination of small, medium, and large chips)
3/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries
3/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract OR 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
2 eggs

directions:
Place butter in the bowl of the electric mixture and allow to soften for a few hours if it's not room temperature already.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a new bowl, mix together chocolate chips, dried cranberries, almonds, and oats. Set aside. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix with a whisk to make sure baking soda and salt are evenly distributed.  Set aside.

Add both sugars to the butter and beat like crazy for a few minutes. Scrape down the sides. Add 1 egg. Mix for a few seconds. Scrape down the sides. Add the 2nd egg and mix for a few seconds. Scrape down the sides. Add the vanilla. Mix for about 3 seconds. Scrape down sides. Add 1/3 of the flour mixtures, mix for a few seconds, scrape down the sides. Add the 2nd 1/3 of the flour mixture, mix for a few seconds, scrape down the sides. Now add the final 1/3 of the flour mixture PLUS the chocolate chip/oat/cranberry/almond mixture. Mix briefly until flour is just incorporated. At this point all the chips, nuts, oats, and cranberries should be evenly distributed as well.

Line your cookie sheet (unless it's nonstick) with parchment or a silpat. These cookies are best big. Use an ice cream scoop. Scoop out balls of dough (a bit bigger than a golf ball). Don't flatten them. Keep them spherical. This way the center will stay gooey and the edges while the edges get crisp. Place a few inches apart on the cookie sheet. Bake in the middle rack of the oven.

These take anywhere from 8-15 minutes to bake. But don't go according to time. Instead, keep an eye on the cookies. When the center (quarter-sized) is still raw, take the cookies out. Leave them on the sheet pan for a few minutes. Move to a rack and let cool. Or just cool them on the cookie sheet.

Freeze balls of dough for up to 6 months in a ziploc bag. You can place the frozen cookie balls onto a cookie sheet and right into a preheated oven.

18 comments:

  1. I just made a slightly different recipe omitting the cranberries and instead adding dried apricots! They turned out yummy, but a little too dry and too crumbly because of all the ingredients. I'm off to make this version of the cookie! Thanks for the recipe :) xoxo

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  2. Wow. All of the things I love in one cookie...I'm speechless. The Tarts may have to make these this weekend!

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  3. mmmmmmmmmmm, these look amazing!p.s. I liked the pestos :)

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  4. your adaptation of this recipe sounds soooo good....loaded with all of my favorite goodies :)

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  5. Delish! I do remember Taylor's. I lived right around the corner and loved their cookies!
    At my house we have been discussing all time favorite foods and chocolate chip cookies are at the top of my list.
    Plus with all this gloomy rain we need tasty baked treats.
    Great recipe, Phyllis.

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  6. We also like to use pecans, and--believe it or not--finely chopped candied ginger!

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  7. I just made your cookies. I was out of cranberries but had raisins so I used them instead. The cookies are soooo good. Thank you for posting a great adaptation!

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  8. Toll House chocolate chip is my all time favorite cookie recipe. I've played around with it..a bit more baking soda, salt...never thought to add oats. Sounds super good. Thanks!

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  9. I'm totally going to add pesto to this recipe!

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  10. dried apricots, raisins, candied ginger. all great ideas. thank everyone. and laura, i laughed out loud. that's the spirit! add pesto to everything. hilarious.

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  11. Oh how delicious. This will be our Sunday treat this weekend. Thank you! We adore dried cranberries over here.

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  12. yum! just made these for alex's class potluck dinner (sans nuts, as we are a peanut and tree nut free classroom). i LOVE the specificity in your instructions, esp where to place the rack in the oven! why doesn't everyone do that for people like me who need such help! thank you! can't wait to take these to the party.

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  13. love the cherry picture! we are going cherry-picking on sunday...can't wait! do you have any favorite cherry recipes?

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  14. susan: so glad you made the cookies for alex's potluck. glad you appreciate the details. amazing how one little detail can change the path of the entire recipe.

    jackie: my daughter brought home all these cherries! glad you like the photo. seemed impossible not to photograph them. we've just been eating them as is. i'll let you know if i come up with a recipe. i'd like to master a cherry pie. not sure that's going to happen this week. thinking some vanilla bean and orange zest might be nice in the crust or the fruit. let me know what you do...

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  15. a friend made these cookies with white chocolate. they were tasty but i found it made the cookies too sweet. bella LOVED them but i say stick to bitter or semisweet chocolate.

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  16. Looks tasty! I always mess around and tweak the Quaker Oatmeal cookie recipe but have never tried Toll House. All the add ins make it much healthier than the original

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  17. we went for cherry sorbet - yummy and not nearly as butter-centric as the tarts/pies i was contemplating. yum!

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  18. I made this recently but mine were flat. I live in higher altitude, around 5200 ft. What can I do to make them like yours?

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