Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Cookies = Happiness

Cookies are happiness, at least in our house they are. The mixing, the baking, and the eating. All around happiness in a round buttery treat. Bronwyn was having a rough Sunday for some reason - mean mom made her read her book instead of watching her tablet - come on... it was only for 30 minutes... but still!!
How do I bring a smile? "Wanna bake cookies?!" "YES!!!" Huge smile! I win! I pulled up a recipe that a coworker and I both found and decided would be delicious. It had sprinkles and chocolate chips - win win - until I read two things "butter and eggs are room temp" and "refrigerate for a minimum of two hours" - um... no. Hard pass. When you have a grumpy girl turned happy - you don't wait to soften butter or refrigerate anything. Instead - you put the cold butter in the mixer and beat the crap out of it. It works - I promise... the cold egg worked too. Our cookies maybe spread more than the original recipe - but I think they look pretty amazing - they taste amazing too!
That coworker? I brought in a few for him and he decided he needed the rest of the batch to make sure they were good.

Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
1 and 1/4 cup  yellow or vanilla boxed cake mix
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks or 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (100g) packed light brown sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (180g) chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup of white and 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips)
1/2 cup (80g) sprinkles

Directions:
In a large bowl, sift together flour, cake mix, and baking soda. Set aside.
Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the softened butter and both sugars together on medium speed until smooth. Add the egg and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and beat on high until combined. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low-medium speed until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and sprinkles. Mix on low until the add-ins are evenly disbursed.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours, or up to 3-4 days. This step is mandatory. The dough is fairly sticky, so chilling the dough is required in order to avoid the cookies from spreading too much. If you chill longer than 2 hours, make sure you roll the cookie dough into balls after the 2 hour mark. Place dough balls on a plate, cover tightly, and store in the refrigerator until ready to bake. You may also freeze the balls at this point for up to 3 months. (Then bake as directed adding 1 minute to the bake time without thawing.)
Once dough has been chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats (always recommended for cookies).
Scoop rounded balls of the cold dough onto an ungreased baking sheet, use about 1.5 Tablespoons of cookie dough per cookie. Shape your cookie dough balls to be "taller" than they are wide, as pictured above. Press a few chocolate chips into the tops of the cookie dough balls, if desired. That makes a pretty cookie. Make sure to keep dough chilled when working in batches.
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until edges are slightly browned. Mine take 10 minutes exactly. The centers will still appear very soft, but the cookies will set as they cool. You can also press a few more chips into the tops of the cookies at this point (the chips will melt down and stick from the warm cookies).
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 4 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

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