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.