Sweets for Saturday #20

By the time this post goes up, I will be back in the warm sunshine of Hawaii. I will also be without my computer this weekend, so I won't be able to respond back to comments right away. Still, I love Sweets for a Saturday so much that I couldn't bear to postpone it or skip a week, so here it is. Thank you again to all you lovely people who always come by and share your sweet talents with everyone. You are awesome. Speaking of awesome, here are your Top 5:

1. Mini Fireworks Cupcakes - Lady Behind the Curtain



2. Cake Batter Pancakes - Pinch of This, That & the Other



3. Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Bars - Brandy's Baking



4. Cookie Dough Fudge - Dreaming of White Chocolate



5. Flower Fairy Cake - Home is Where the Boat Is



By the way, in case you didn't already know, my Great Chocolate Cookie Quest of 2011 has begun. Two of the twelve recipes have already been posted - Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies and BAKED Bakery's Chocolate Chip Cookies. And, there's more to come. It's gonna be one yummy journey.

The Rules:

1. Please link up to the URL of your post, not the URL of your main blog. When it asks for "Name", type in the name of your treat.
   
2. Please leave a link back to this post in your post or Grab My Button.
   
3. Share your delicious sweets from this week. If you've made more than one during the week, feel free to link them all up.
   
4. Leave me a comment telling me that you've linked up.
   
5. Please visit at least two others and comment on their wonderful additions to this party.

<center><a href="http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8s1iBIPyjRCu16ifFno6WFUkuhjUbgdTM35QWUi9P1Mxvt-v02Rt9MiOjnqP13K1dPvY99i4vB4ocS1763DUJKQiOUuGulW0IVv4_qV3r-HT0RHb7pGNKnWSsk3-2A2B_RRXuUWfc30/s1600/Plumpy+%25282%2529+button.jpg" /></a></center>

"Baked" Chocolate Chip Cookies

Next up: Chocolate Chip Cookies from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.

In terms of ingredients, the recipe uses twice as much brown sugar as white sugar which consequently results in a softer cookie due to the moisture in the brown sugar. You are also told to chill the dough in the fridge for at least 6 hours, presumably so that the flavors can meld and deepen.

After chilling, I found that the dough was still really sticky so I had to work fast to form it into balls and get it onto the cookie sheet. Once it was in the oven, I then noticed that the dough spread a LOT, so make sure you leave enough space between each dough ball. Otherwise, they'll start to meld together like The Blob.

Once baked, the cookies had crispy edges and chewy middles. They were also very flat, but from what I've seen on other blogs, this is usually how they turn out.

While they had a nice texture, they were too flat for my liking. I prefer cookies that are a little thicker and denser. In addition, that caramelly taste that I desire in my cookies just wasn't there.

So, the search continues.

"Baked" Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking)

2 1/4 c. flour
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 2/3 c. semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

Beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, at least 3 min. Scrape down the bowl and add in the eggs, one at a time, until completely incorporated. The mixture will look light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and beat in for 5 seconds.

Add in half of the flour, mix for 15 seconds, then add in the rest of the flour gradually until just moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. Cover the bowl tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Line and/or grease two baking sheets. Roll the dough into a ball the size of 2 Tbsps. Place them on the baking sheets about 1 inch apart, and press down just slightly with your palm (I found that this step wasn't necessary). Bake for 12-14 min. (I baked mine for 15 min.) until the edges of the cookies are golden brown and the tops just start to darken.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 10 min. Then, remove to another surface to finish cooling.

*I found this recipe on the Crepes of Wrath blog.

Great CCC Quest of 2011:
Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is linked to:
Themed Bakers' Sunday
My Meatless Monday
Midnight Maniac's Meatless Monday
CCC Round-Up

Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are a classic treat. However, this one simple treat has evolved to the point where there are countless variations of it all claiming to be the best. Even I have a family recipe to which I'm extremely partial and, as yet, have never found a chocolate chip cookie recipe to match it for taste and texture. Still, I decided that it was high time to leave my CCC comfort zone and see what else is out there. Thus begins my quest for the BEST chocolate chip cookie.

Over the next several weeks, I intend to make and share 12 different recipes (some well-known ones and others less so), including my FAVE family recipe. For control purposes, the cookies will always appear on the same plate so that you can see the differences in color, texture, and so forth. Then, at the end of my quest, I'll try and load a chart of all the recipes so that you can see how they differ in terms of their ingredients and the amounts that were used. And, of course, I will announce which one I determined to be my favorite of them all.

So, to kick it all off, I decided to make these Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies that I saw on Crepes of Wrath. It's a bit unorthodox, I admit, since nearly every single CCC uses butter. Still, I was curious to find out how these would differ.

The first thing I noticed is that the amount of olive oil required by the recipe is much lower than the amount of butter that one usually uses in CCC recipes. This resulted in a very stiff dough that had to be molded really well or else the chocolate chips would fall out. The cookies also did not spread out at all while baking (presumably due to the reduced amount of fat), so I flattened them down while they were in the oven (cause I didn't want chocolate chip cookie mounds). Finally, upon taking them out of the oven, I noted that they were very light colored.

The outside of the cookies was very crunchy and the inside was wonderfully soft and chewy. The taste, however, puts me at a loss for words. I'm not even sure how to describe what they tasted like except to say that they were "interesting." They weren't bad, but they didn't exactly have that normal chocolate chip cookie taste that I expected. I'm guessing that butter really is necessary for that taste that we all know and love. Still, I'm glad that I tried this recipe.

So, one down and 11 more to go. Stay tuned to see how the Great CCC Quest of 2011 turns out.

Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Crepes of Wrath)

2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1-2 Tbsp. milk (I left this out)
1 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375F. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside. Combine sugars, vanilla, and olive oil (mixture will be very grainy). Beat in the eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in the flour mixture, then add in a tablespoon of milk to make the dough a bit firmer (maybe another tablespoon if you need it).

Roll the dough into balls with your hands and place on a greased and/or lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 min., until lightly golden and set (I baked mine for 15-17 min.). Allow to cool on the baking sheet then move to another surface to finish cooling.

This recipe is linked to:
Made it on Monday
Recipes I Can't Wait to Try
These Chicks Cooked
Whisking Wednesday
Full Plate Thursday
Sweet Tooth Friday
Bake with Bizzy
Friday's Potluck
Fat Camp Friday
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Themed Bakers' Sunday
So Sweet Sunday
Savory Sunday
CCC Round-Up