30 December, 2011
Holiday Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yields: About 5 Dozen cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2-¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (a 12 ounce package) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
½ cup (about ½ of the small plastic store’s container) red or green candied cherries, quartered
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375°
In large bowl, beat together butter and sugars with electric mixer until creamy.
Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla; beat well.
In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; mix well.
Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture; mix well with a strong spoon.
Gradually stir in chocolate chips, chopped walnuts and candied cherries; mix well with spoon.
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until light golden brown.
Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely and then store them tightly covered.
Notes:
This recipe is based on the original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe on the bag of Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels.
These cookies do best with semi-sweet chocolate chips and I do not recommend using milk chocolate or white chocolate chips.
For best flavor, I recommend making the dough 2 days before you want to bake and serve them. Just make the dough, cover and refrigerate for 36 hours, then bake as directed. The refrigeration allows the flavors to blend and be absorbed completely and allows the flour to absorb the moisture and make a softer cookie. I know it’s hard to wait – bake one batch and then put the rest up for 36 hours. It’s worth it! The dough actually keeps for up to 1 week in the refrigerator and up to 2 months in the freezer.
The cookies bake better if you chill the dough before putting on the baking sheet. Keep the dough in the refrigerator in between batches. Never put dough for the next batch on a hot baking pan. Run cold water over a used baking sheet to bring the temperature of the baking sheet down in between batches.
Use real butter, not margarine or shortening, and use real vanilla extract, not imitation vanilla. I have not tried a sugar substitute – if you want to try that I would suggest making just half of this recipe and using ½ cup sugar substitute and just ¼ cup dark brown sugar. If you try sugar substitute, please leave a comment here and let us know how it turned out.