Bonsoir mes copains!
Most importantly, here is THE NELSON CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE. What?!
Picture this:
You're going to Sam's club or Costco's for lunch. It's sample day, ya know. You come across the best bite in the whole store, but, the vendor is the strictest mcstricter of sample ladies. And no matter how much time you put between return visits, her hovering hand deters you from getting more.
A few days visiting the Dairy State left me with with this exact feeling! Though I am truly grateful for three day weekends and airplanes, I wanted more time!
It's crazy to me that I can be out of class and on a plane in less than an hour, landing states away just for the weekend. I had the most wonderful time seeing family that lives across the sea and across the country. (Again, I wish I had more time with them!) We enjoyed the fishing waters and natural beaches of a northern Wisconsin lake. A little sunshine, a little sand between the toes, and a lot of ambiance. Ahhh, life's simple pleasures.
Aside from the whine: foodstuffs. Let's talk cookies!
Walking out of class and into an airplane with a bag full of goodies made for easy convo with my plane neighbors. I normally play myself to be the quiet-reader-type on planes, but man, bust out a bag of cookies and people get chatty. (It may or may not be strategic on my part...)
In this case, I hopped in the plane with some "drunken" chocolate chip cookies and spicy gingersnaps. Adding a teaspoon of bourbon (I AM from Kentucky, after all) to the famous Nelson cookies recipe adds a great note of nuttiness and background flavor to an American favorite. In a different way, adding a tsp. of cayenne to gingersnaps gives an already "spicy" cookie some extra energy! Both delicious and slightly addicting...oh let's face it, they're SUPER addicting. Plus, if you like bourbon balls, it'll put you in the mood to make/eat some of those, too!
Side note: I think I started to finally win over my chef when I cranked out these choc. chip cookies after finishing my lunch service early. He said gruffly, "I like you. You can come back tomorrow." Pretty nice, eh?
You're going to Sam's club or Costco's for lunch. It's sample day, ya know. You come across the best bite in the whole store, but, the vendor is the strictest mcstricter of sample ladies. And no matter how much time you put between return visits, her hovering hand deters you from getting more.
A few days visiting the Dairy State left me with with this exact feeling! Though I am truly grateful for three day weekends and airplanes, I wanted more time!
It's crazy to me that I can be out of class and on a plane in less than an hour, landing states away just for the weekend. I had the most wonderful time seeing family that lives across the sea and across the country. (Again, I wish I had more time with them!) We enjoyed the fishing waters and natural beaches of a northern Wisconsin lake. A little sunshine, a little sand between the toes, and a lot of ambiance. Ahhh, life's simple pleasures.
Aside from the whine: foodstuffs. Let's talk cookies!
Walking out of class and into an airplane with a bag full of goodies made for easy convo with my plane neighbors. I normally play myself to be the quiet-reader-type on planes, but man, bust out a bag of cookies and people get chatty. (It may or may not be strategic on my part...)
In this case, I hopped in the plane with some "drunken" chocolate chip cookies and spicy gingersnaps. Adding a teaspoon of bourbon (I AM from Kentucky, after all) to the famous Nelson cookies recipe adds a great note of nuttiness and background flavor to an American favorite. In a different way, adding a tsp. of cayenne to gingersnaps gives an already "spicy" cookie some extra energy! Both delicious and slightly addicting...oh let's face it, they're SUPER addicting. Plus, if you like bourbon balls, it'll put you in the mood to make/eat some of those, too!
Side note: I think I started to finally win over my chef when I cranked out these choc. chip cookies after finishing my lunch service early. He said gruffly, "I like you. You can come back tomorrow." Pretty nice, eh?
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES a la the Kentucky Nelsons
1 C salted butter
3/4 C light brown sugar
3/4 C table sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 C all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp bourbon (Buying a whole bottle is okay! It's a great addition to SO many dishes. Add a tsp to bread pudding, cinnamon raisin bread, in the caramel for sticky buns, cream cheese icings, chocolate/espresso cakes, boxed brownie mixes...OR, add 1/4 Cup in French Onion soup, braised short ribs, beef roast, and even in pork chop stuffings. Be creative!)
375* for 6-8 minutes
Trade secrets! Method is just as important as ingredients:
Keep the butter cold. Friction in creaming the butter and sugar together will create heat energy in the dough, so it's important to refrigerate it after incorporating the other ingredients. I may or may not freeze the dough into cylinders and cut into discs if serving company...This keeps dense, chewy cookies from becoming droopy, flat pancakes.
Use salted butter. Salty and sweet is the addicting combo kept secret in the food industry. Never underestimate the power of salt in baked goods!
Use quality Vanilla. The 99 cent bottle you have from Kroger, Food Lion, Cubs, or other won't cut it. It's a harsh world, desserts. Every ingredient is precisely measured and when we're talking about perfecting simplicity, every ingredient should be the good stuff. Mexican Vanilla is good, but you'll mostly find premium vanilla to be a Tahitian and Madagascar blend. Sam's and Costco are the ways to go in fulfilling your premium, bang-for-your-buck vanilla needs.
Use semisweet chocolate chips. Milk chocolate might be your favorite, but trust me, cookies should be made with semi or bittersweet chocolate. The sweetness of the dough will highlight the chocolate better if the chocolate isn't fighting for the sweet spot. It's similar to the salty and sweet idea. A little contrast of flavor brings out the flavor in each, which makes for a higher quality taste. (And you look like a rockstar baker. Like, the kind with tattoos of cupcakes and whisks, bright purple hair, and a swanky bakeshop.)
Afraid of bourbon? No worries. Omit it, or replace it with a tsp of espresso/strong coffee. Watch how much liquid additives you put into your cookies, though. You don't want to change the composition of your dough too much, or confuse the palate. What I really should preach is creativity within boundaries! -the baker's dilemma.
Provecho!
2 comments:
Love it, love it, love it! This is awesome! I am thoroughly enjoying torturing myself by reading your foodie goodness (I'm on a diet). But I have to ask: Are you going to get a rock star baker tattoo? If you are, can I be present for that conversation with Mama & Papa Nelson?
Lib, I may or may not give longing looks at some half arm sleeves on my favorite baristas...or as Noah calls them, my "boyristas"...BUT, I, myself, am not looking into the bakers' tattoos. My tiny nose stud that I had when I was 18 is as far as I'm probably going to go in that genre. :)
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