Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Chocolate Chip Cookies
OK, that's my world right now. Or more specifically, my backyard. It's been raining for days. The snow is giving way to rank ugliness. It looks as if we're going to have an early spring in this part of New England, up here in the iron-cold dark where Calvinists sprang full formed from the ground.
Mostly, it means the brook behind our house is flooding, filling the meadows with water. Not a bad thing, mind you. I'll be glad of it come July when the wildflowers flourish. But right now, it just means mud. And lots of it.
So it's a good day to stay inside and make cookies. The kind that empty the pantry: maple syrup, coconut, wheat germ, tahini, oats, chocolate chips.
Wow, are they good! Pour yourself a glass of milk. Whole milk. I mean, what's the point of low-fat? You saved, what?, thirty calories? Really? That's going to save the world? Listen, if you're going to make these cookies, go for broke.
But before we get to the recipe, a confession. (It is Lent, after all.) I like crunchy cookies. Period. I'm not a soft-cookie guy. Yes, I learned to like a few of the gooey ones for our chocolate cookie book. But mostly, I'm all about the crunch. Because I'm all about the dunk. You realize we're back to the milk discussion, right?
OK, Let's get started.
First, position the rack in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F.
Next whisk 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Don't cheat; whisk. You want the soda, cinnamon, and salt evenly distributed in the flour. Set this aside.
Afterwards, use an electric mixer at medium speed to beat 1 cup solid vegetable shortening (trans-fat free, please--look for it at high-end markets) with 1/4 cup tahini (sesame seed paste) in a big bowl until light and smooth, about 2 minutes.
Scrape down the inside of the bowl and beat in 1 cup packed dark brown sugar and 3/4 cup granulated white sugar until fairly light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Beat in 1 large egg, 3 tablespoons maple syrup, and 2 tablespoons vanilla extract until smooth--then beat in the flour mixture just until they're are no white streaks in the batter.
You're not done. By a long shot. Beat in 2 1/3 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking or steel-cut), 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, and 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ (yum!).
Scrape off the beaters and set the dough aside for 10 minutes at room temperature. Patience, patience.
Ready? Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Scoop up scant 1/4 cup of the mixture and start making mounds across the baking sheets, spacing the mounds a couple inches apart.
Spread a little granulated sugar on a small plate, dip the bottom of a drinking glass into it, then use it to flatten the mounds until they're about 1/2-inch thick, dipping the glass back in sugar after each.
Bake until browned and set, about 20 minutes, a few minutes less if you're using convection. Don't overbake these--they're crunchy enough. Cool them on the sheets a couple minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool more fully. And that's it. Seal them up in zip-closed bags once they're cool and store them at room temperature for a few days or in the freezer for months.
Mark Scarbrough | Posted on Monday, March 15, 2010 at 1:08PM | in Chocolate, Cookies, Desserts, Fabulously Empty Calories chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, coconut, cookies, maple syrup, milk, tahini, wheat germ 
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Reader Comments (5)
Mark, your writing always makes me smile, but today you made me laugh out loud! I could just see you and Bruce foraging through the pantry to see what ingredients you could put into these cookies! They look seriously good, but can I just say, I think your "backyard" looks eerily beautiful too, not in the last bit ugly...
Those biscuits (oops, I mean cookies) look devine! They might have to get tried out this week- thank you.
Your back yard looks beautiful. I will happily swap you for a sunny, blue skies, dry old city courtyard here.
Hey, guys. I suppose my backyard is beautiful, but right now, I just see the mess of the spring clean-up ahead of me. When I was a kid, my mother used to call me "little mister thundercloud" because I was always so pessimistic. Sigh. But there you have it: the mess. Limbs everywhere, broken vines, culverts full. I need to get cracking on it all but I'm caught on deadlines. Ah, well. Soon. Meanwhile, the dog is having a blast tramping through the mud at every turn. I have buckets and towels by the back door for when he comes in--but I still seem to live in (on?) some giant checkerboard of muddy paw prints.
That said, the cookies were pretty darn fine. Had two more last night after dinner with a glass of milk. Almost fifty and I still get a kick out of kid things.
Oh good more uses for tahini! Loved hearing you on Martha Stewart radio, especially the 'ham' on the porch in 'bear country'.
Hey, Cheryl. Thanks for stopping by. Yes, that bear on the porch. I should shoot a pic of that bear sometime and put it on the blog!
And did I mention that these were exactly the cookies we brought to Betsy Karetnik on the show that morning?