Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

What makes an ordinary chocolate chip cookie extra special?

I think it's the size.

Chocolate chip cookies are a classic favorite for all those cookie-lovers, but you have to admit: they can get a little boring sometimes. 

NOT that I would ever say no to anyone who offers me one. :)

But a little twist and a little surprise are always fun to find in those little babies.

Or in this case, HUGE babies!

These are actually white chocolate macadamia cookies, but you can omit the nuts and just use semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips if you'd like. It's pretty easy to adjust to your taste.

The one thing you MUST follow, of course, is the extra special size! 

(They are about 5" in diameter)

The edges are perfectly crisp, the center is soft, moist, and chewy, and every bite has a satisfying crunch from the nuts, and an irresistible, smooth, meltiness from the chocolate chips.

I guarantee that this perfectly sweet treats will be a "big" hit among the kids!

 

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes 8 (5-inch) cookies
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart
Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Mix in vanilla.
Reduce speed to low and add in flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.
Drop by 1/4 cupfuls onto the cookie sheet, at least 4-inches apart from eachother. Bake until golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool 1 or 2 minutes on cookie sheets before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

See how wonderfully huge that is?

 

I made half the recipe and got four cookies - perfect for my family!

And yes, I used half an egg.

 

What's your way of making cookies special?

Betty Crocker's Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm trying to get the perfect chocolate chip cookie these days, so I've already tried about four different recipes just last week. 

One of them was the turtle cookies I posted a few hours ago, which was awesome, but that technically wasn't a chocolate chip cookie, and they had nuts in them.

This one's more of a pure, classic version:)

Of course, they're huge, soft, thick, moist, and chewy - just how I like'em!

I usually try to underbake my cookies so that there's a little cookie doughy bit inside:)))

And these cookies certainly gave me that!

Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies
Recipe from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook
Ingredients:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar*
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour**
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F.
Mix sugars, butter, and egg in a large bowl. Stir in the flour, baking soda and salt.
Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving 3 inches between cookies.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are set but the center is still soft. Let the cookies cool for about 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to wire racks and cool completely.

Notes:
*I used splenda brown sugar blend, just to make it a little healthier:)
**I used 2 1/4 cups of self rising flour and omitted the baking soda and salt.
For regular sized cookies, drop by heaping tablespoons about 2 inches apart and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen.

Ooey Gooey Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

How about that, eh? Ooey and gooey. And chewy.

I made these for my dad and his golf friends, since they always skip lunch when they go golfing.

I had less than an hour left until my dad had to go, so I made these in a real hurry. 

Notice that they are quite underbaked. Problem? Nah.

They didn't even get to cool down before getting packed, which meant EXTRA gooey:)

These are the BEST peanut butter chocolate chip bar cookies I've ever made!

They have a slight crackling top, and the interior is very soft and moist. 

Every bite gives you a huge chunk of oozing chocolate and a killing smell of warm peanut butter.

I'll probably make these again... and again...and again... 

until I become a big, fat chocolate chip.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars
Makes 16 bars
Recipe adapted from Bakeat350
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons unsalted  butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8x8" square pan with aluminum foil.
Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
Cream the butter and peanut butter together until smooth. Beat in both the sugars until combined.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Make sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Stir in the vanilla; stir in the flour mixture. Add the chocolate chips and mix until just combined.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake about 40 minutes. Cool completely; cut into 16 squares.

Caramel Turtle Cookies

I love chocolate chip cookies. That's an undeniable, solid fact.

I baked big, fat chocolate chip cookies three days in a row last week, all of which I have gobbled up after lunch (and dinner... and umm.. breakfast too). 

But I don't like just any old chocolate chip cookie..

Wait, let me fix that. I like any chocolate chip cookies, but I don't fall in LLLOVE with all of them.

There are lots of things to consider when you're choosing THE ONE.

Crunchy vs. Soft

Thick vs. Thin

Chewy vs. Cakey

Crisp vs. Ooey Gooey

Chocolate chunks vs. Specks of mini chocolate chips

Nuts vs. No nuts

....

...

...

I could go on forever, but my criteria is simple.

1. Soft, but not cakey

2. Loaded with chocolate chips

3. Thick

4. No nuts

That's all I ask for.

How come none of my chocolate chips turn out that way? It's so frustrating.

These caramel turtle cookies are a little twist to chocolate chip cookies, because I added some caramel bits and nuts to it.

I know, I know, I hate nuts in cookies, but these were requested by my mom, who loves anything with nuts in them, so I reluctantly grabbed a bag of some forgotten macadamia nuts and poured them into my precious cookie dough.

And surprisingly, they were perfect! Even the nuts gave them a great flavor and a nice crunch. I think I didn't mind the nuts because the tops of these cookies were crackly and crunchy anyways.

The inside is soft though, so I munch-munched until I realized it was 11pm. 

Hmm... I'll walk 10 miles tomorrow.

Caramel Turtle Cookies
Makes 1 dozen 5-inch cookies
Recipe adapted from My baking addiction
Ingredients:
1 cup minus 1 tablespoon cake flour
5/6 cup bread flour (1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup caramel bits (I used Kraft)
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Combine both flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until very light, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and mix well. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Mix in the chocolate chips, caramel bits, and chopped nuts.
Using a regular ice cream scoop, scoop a generous amount of dough and place on the cookie sheets. I got 9 on one of them and 3 on the other.
Bake until golden brown but still soft, about 18-20 minutes. You might want to switch the two cookie sheets  during baking for even browning. I didn't, so 9 of them were golden brown while 3 of them were a tad bit pale:( Cool completely on a wire rack, then store in an airtight container.

Notes:
For smaller cookies, you can use a heaping tablespoon instead of an ice cream scoop, and bake for 12 minutes.

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Biscottis are wonderful complements to a warm cup of coffee or tea.

Well, that's what I heard.

I've never had biscottis before in my life, let alone bake any, so I had no idea what they were supposed to taste like. I usually prefer soft or chewy cookies, rather than hard ones, so I always skipped the biscotti recipes when I looked through cookbooks or websites. 

But I guess it was about time I at least tried some, just to know what it's like.

Not too sweet, but full of flavor, these crunchy little cookies are indeed yummier when they are dunked in warm coffee. The original recipe had white chocolate coating, but I felt that if those were dipped in coffee, they wouldn't really soak up anything, so I threw in some chocolate chips in the batter instead:)

They actually taste wonderful, and I would bake them again soon - probably with a dash of cinnamon to spice'em up!

But umm... I still prefer soft and chewy cookies.

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Biscotti
recipe adapted from cinnamon, spice & everything nice
Makes 5 dozen biscottis
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chocolate chips


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Add eggs one at a time, beating at low speed with an electric mixer. Mix in vanilla extract. Add dried cranberries and chocolate chips and stir to combine.
Divide batter into two, and shape each one on a cookie sheet into a rectangular log, about 15 inches long and 2 inches wide. 
Bake for 30 minutes, until edges are golden brown; cool on a wire rack until warm to the touch. Transfer logs onto a cutting board and slice diagonally into 1/4-inch thick cookies. 
Arrange back on parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 20 minutes, depending on how crisp you want them.
Cool completely on wire rack.


Enjoy!