Sunday, November 28, 2010

Special Guest

A few posts ago, I posted about a cookie cake that Mr. Tea Rose Home made for our son's birthday party. So many people asked for the recipe that I asked Mr. Tea Rose Home if he would be interested in doing a guest post. He gladly accepted. So enjoy the recipe tutorial!

Hello ladies! Thanks for all the compliments on the cookies. I told Mrs. Tea Rose Home that I could write a post about how I make my cookies. She said, "Why, can't we just post the recipe?"

I jokingly replied, "Well, then we could write: It's on the back of Nestlé’s. The End."

So, there is my secret, the recipe is on the back of Nestlé’s Toll House Chocolate chips, however, that is not all. There is one thing that I learned over the years and it's not on the back of some bag. So without further ado, here is the recipe:

2 1/4 C. flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
2 Sticks Butter
3/4 C. sugar
3/4 C. packed brown sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 Large Eggs

I use a KitchenAid mixer, and I always make the cookies in this order following these steps. This is why they turn out so good, and since I know of no one that makes them like this (because they've said so) it has got to be done this way.

Put the butter (Use the real stuff, no margarine; I use either salted or unsalted sweet cream. I haven't made two batches side by side to see if there is a real difference. When I make a double batch, I'll mix them.), sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and eggs into the mixing bowl. Raise it up and turn the KitchenAid on to its lowest setting. Clean up (you don't have to clean; I'm just trying to keep the KitchenAid on longer.)

Mix the other ingredients into a separate bowl. Really you are supposed to sift those ingredients, but we either don't have one or I'm too lazy to find it, so I just put them in a bowl and lightly mix with a wire whisk.

This whole time the KitchenAid should still be mixing. You might have to stop it to get the butter clump off the mixing arm then start mixing it again. I will sometimes speed up the kitchen aid and lower the bowl to shake some of the mixture off and slow the KitchenAid down and raise the bowl back.


If the dough looks like this, you haven't mixed it enough, keep mixing. Go watch TV with the kids or something, depending on how cold or solid the butter was; this could take some time.


This is what the batter should look like, nice white and fluffy. No lumps from the butter or sugar. Now what I do is add about a tablespoon of the flour mixture in at a time. While the KitchenAid is mixing at its lowest setting, I'll add a scoop of flour and wait for it to get totally mixed in before adding another. This keeps the flour from clumping. Maybe you can just pour it all in and be done with it, but my cookies always turn out perfect if I do 1 heaping tablespoon at a time.

Once all the flour is mixed in, turn the oven on to 375°. Keep the KitchenAid going for several more minutes, and then turn it off. The dough should be delicious; yes, me and my kids love to eat the dough. Anyways, remove the mixing bowl from the KitchenAid and pour in the chips. When making a double batch, I mix in milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate. Mix with a spatula; be sure to dig in and pull the dough from the bottom and get a good even spread of chips throughout the dough.

For the cookie “cake”, I made a double batch and then scooped most of it into the pan and spread it out as much and I could. I think the dough was somewhere from a 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick, I'm not sure, I didn't measure. Either way, with cookies, you are supposed to cook for 9 to 11 minutes. I like my cookies doughy and gooey, so I go for 8 1/2 minutes (I use teaspoons to scoop out individual cookies.)

With the cookie “cake”, I cooked it for 9 minutes and that was too short, so back in for another 4 minutes... still not enough; 4 more seemed to do it; there was a nice light golden brown starting to form on the edges, it was done. Nice soft moist gooey cookies... mmmm.... Great with milk!


They were almost all gone by the end of the party.

Well ladies… that was it. The KitchenAid was nice and warm from all the work, I must have mixed for 30 minutes or more but that is my secret. Keep mixing and then mix some more.

I hope this recipe tutorial will be helpful for you to make the cookie "cake". Thank you Honey for the special guest appearance!

10 comments :

  1. I was waiting for this!! Thank you!!

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  2. Mr Tea Rose Home, thank YOU very, very, very much for sharing the recipe and your "secret". My girls are super excited! :) Will try making it and let you know the outcome.

    And Mrs Tea Rose Home, thank YOU for allowing him to guest post :)

    xoxo

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  3. thank you very much for the tutorial, because here i Italy we have not the "Nestlé’s Toll House Chocolate chips":-)))
    Noe I can do them, but I think I will try the cake size one:-D

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  4. I have a "cake" in the oven right now! My 6 year old daughter was super excited about this baking adventure! It smells delicious already!! Thank you so very much for sharing!

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  5. Apparently you have a much better oven than I do! Mine took 24 minutes total to get it so the middle was cooked! They are a bit darker than yours as well but they will taste just fine! Thanks again!

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  6. Gretam,

    Mine were very soft in the center. Mrs. Tea Rose Home thought they were still raw, but if you let it sit for a while, it firms up. Another trick you can do, although I didn't do this, is to cover the cookie with aluminum foil while it is baking. That is supposed to keep it from browning or over browning.

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  7. Thanks Mr. Tea Rose Home - I knew that they were very raw in the middle when I went to take the pan out and the entire middle was jiggling! I just had to keep it in a little while longer. They did still come out soft and the edges were a little crunchy like the cookies get on the edges. My kids and husband are all very happy with the results! You can see how dark mine came out here: http://gretam.wordpress.com/2010/11/29/333365-again-oops/

    Thanks again!

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  8. OMG Mr. Tea Rose sounds like a darling! I will try this secret! A secret I heard from a local bakery that has their cookies fly off the shelf, is to leave batter in the fridge for two days before baking. I have never tried it since I am too impatient! Chocolate chipp cookies here I come!
    SG

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  9. Have you every tried making it with whole wheat flour or know someone who has? Just curious since I was thinking of trying it with that. The dough looks so good!

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  10. Karisty,

    I have not tried that. Give it a try, I would love to hear how it goes.

    Later,

    Mr. Tea Rose Home

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