"Homesick" Chocolate Chip Cookies

What to say … what to say? The winter’s been long and cold-and there is only so much a girl like me can take. And now, I miss America. I do. I do. I do. I want to go home for a while and soak it all in-the ins and outs of the country I call home. But until that can happen, I’ll settle for cookies. Not just any cookie, chocolate chip cookies. If you’ve never had homemade chocolate chip cookies and have only had the dry crumbly ones bought on grocery store shelves, you are most certainly in for a treat. Homemade chocolate chip cookies are a warm place to land when coming in from the cold wind of March in Southwestern Norway. They take me back-way back and warm my heart. One bite makes me think-“this is home”.

Any time I feel homesick for the good ole U.S. of A-whipping of a batch of these makes me feel whole again.

Homesick Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Tyler Florence’s “My Big Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies”
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup/250 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
200 grams dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (or half dark and half milk chocolate)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/175 C/gas mark 4.

2. Line a cookie sheet/ langepanne with parchment paper/bak papir. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a medium bowl, twice and set aside.

3. Place the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer; cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Light and fluffy means the butter is fully incorporated into the sugars and it looks like a shade lighter than wet sand (usually 3-5 minutes depending on how soft your butter is). Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then beat in the vanilla and eggs. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and continue to mix until a smooth batter forms. Turn off the mixer, pour the batter into a separate mixing bowl, then fold in the chocolate chunks and walnuts using the spatula or a pair of clean hands. I usually use my hands-it makes me feel “earthy” and connected, to help further ward off said impending homesickness.

4. To form the cookies, using an ice cream scooper, scoop out a ball of dough and finish forming them with your hand. If you have a spring-form ice cream scooper, you’ll simply need to scoop out the dough and place it on the parchment paper/bak papir. Place the dough balls enough apart so that you can flatten them out once they begin to cook and won’t touch-usually about 3-inches. Place the cookie sheet/langepanne in the oven and cook for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, flatten the tops of each cookie with the back of a soup spoon and turn the pan. Cook the cookies for 5 more minutes, for chewy cookies. If you prefer a crispier cookie, cook for another 6 minutes with one additional minute with the convection fan turned on or 8 minutes straight without the fan.

5. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough until all cookies are baked.

This post is for non-commercial, personal use only. Copyright ©2011 by Whitney @ Thanks For The Food.

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