After I recently participated in a very disappointing store-bought chocolate chip cookie tasting, my thoughts turned to the homemade variety. As usual, I had to tinker with everything I found, but my final result, while not a plain chocolate chip cookie, is easy to make and pretty tasty, too.
The dry measurements are all weight rather than cup measurements. Cup-measure can vary quite a bit from one brand to another, so a scale can make the difference between a good result and a failure in baking. A good digital scale, with gram and ounce settings, will cost you about $20 and is one of the best tools you can have in your kitchen. If you have an ounce scale, multiply your grams by 0.0353 to convert grams to ounces and round up or down depending on where the numbers are after the decimal point.
Makes approximately four dozen cookies.
Ingredients:
225 grams (8 ounces) all purpose flour
1 level teaspoon baking soda
1/2 level teaspoon salt
225 grams (8 ounces) brown sugar
90 grams (3 ounces) granulated (white) sugar
160 grams (6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
Two eggs
2 tablespoons milk (low- or nonfat is fine)
2 generous teaspoons vanilla extract
200 grams (7 ounces) rolled oats (do not use instant or quick cooking oats)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon orange zest, to taste
12-ounce package of chocolate chips (See note)
Preparation:
Pre-heat oven to 375° F (190° C).
Combine flour, baking salt, and salt in a bowl.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together brown and granulated sugar and butter until creamed together. Beat in eggs, milk, and vanilla extract, combining thoroughly. Beat in flour mixture gradually, making sure the flour is fully combined. Add oats, chocolate chips, and orange zest; mix well. I use a hand mixer for most of the cookie dough, but a wooden spoon for adding the chips, oats, and zest is helpful as it minimizes chip breakage.
Drop a tablespoon of dough for each cookie onto ungreased cookie sheets. (I use a small stainless scoop.) Bake for 10 to 12 minutes for chewy cookies; bake an extra couple of minutes for crispier cookies. Cool for a minute until cookies harden a little, and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
