Creative Crafter

I bought a new baking book from a charity shop last weekend and thought it would be perfect to use for Cupcake Crazy Gem's United bakes of America challenge (any excuse to buy a new recipe book!)http://cupcakecrazygem.blogspot.co.uk/

It is by Kate Zuckerman who was the pastry chef at New York restuarant Chanterelle. It is a few years old but I think it is the type of book that will never age and the recipes are classics. It has lots of useful hints and tips on baking techniques as well.

I chose to make the crisp chewy chocolate chip cookies and as the recipe says they were crispy and chewy! It's good because you can make the dough and then refrigerate it and bake the cookies as you need them, they are best eaten warm 20 minutes after coming out the oven. They also smell amazing! I took them to a friends house when they were still warm and they scented the whole room with a sweet baked aroma. i didn't realize it was the cookies at first and thought they were burning a scented candle! It definitely makes them hard to resist. They are pretty moreish and the nuts give a nice added texture.

Makes 48 cookies (I made mine quite big and the recipe made about 30) Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Ingredients

8oz butter (room temp)

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg white

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 3/4 cups plain flour

200g semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts.

Place the butter in the bowl of a mixer, beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on medium-high speed until the mixture becomes fluffy and light in colour, 6-8 minutes. Add the egg and egg white and continue to beat until they are fully incorporated and the batter looks smooth and glossy. 1-2 minutes.

In a dry bowl, whisk together the bicarbonate of soda, salt and flour. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. Uisng a rubber spatula fold together for a few turns, with the mixer on slow speed, mix the dough until thoroughly combined, 1 minute.

Add the chocolate chips, vanilla and walnuts and mix for another 30 seconds. The batter can be made up to this point and refrigerated, well wrapped, for up to 4 days. Using two teaspoons scoop the dough into mounds, arranged 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.

Bake the cookies until they are a light golden brown with darker colouring at the edges, 12-15 minutes. For even browning, rotate the sheets from front to back at least once.

Resist them as long as you can!