February 23, 2015
There is nothing like a warm chocolate chip cookie on a snowy afternoon. Michael had fellow students over again this afternoon to work on a group project so I decided to make a double batch of Bennet’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. It was a great excuse to feed my own sweet tooth as well.

This recipe comes from Brian Bennett, a friend and neighbor who is both a good baker and good cook. I do alter his recipe a bit but either way, these are REALLY delicious. I add some whole wheat flour, flax meal and oat flour and do not use quite as many chocolate chips as Brian does. These are crispy on the outside and very gooey on the inside.
Ingredients for a double batch.

I believe, as I’ve noted on my tips and bits page, that one of the best tricks to really good cookies is to let the dough chill for several hours or overnight before baking. Today I only let them chill about 2 hours and the cookies spread out a little more than usual. When the dough is really cold, it takes the butter longer to melt so the cookies retain a better mounded shape. I froze half of the dough to bake sometime in the next few weeks or month.

Creamed butter, sugar and eggs.

It is really important to cream the butter and sugar very well. This will give the cookies a nice shine when they bake up. Also, add one egg at a time to really incorporate well into the mixture. Last, when adding the dry ingredients, I try not to overmix. When the big clumps of flour are just beginning to smooth out into the dough, I add the nuts and chocolate chips. Oftentimes I have to hand mix the rest -so the chips do not get broken up too much – and so that the flour doesn’t get over beaten and make the cookies tough. I use 2 of 3 cups regular flour, then make one cup a combo of whole wheat flour, flax meal and oat flour (I grind up old fashioned oats in a blender to form a flour). This adds texture and some good nutrients, but doesn’t make the cookies too dense.

all dry ingredients. Either use a sifter, or mix well before adding to the wet mixture.

Last, I often mix different types of chocolate and chocolate chips in the batter. Today I used my favorite Ghiradelli Bittersweet chocolate chips and chopped up some Hershey’s Kisses for a variation of sweet and bittersweet. Brian’s recipe calls for 48 oz of milk chocolate chips in a single recipe! For the life of me, I cannot get that many chocolate chips mixed into the dough – there doesn’t seem to be enough dough to hold all of the chips! Today I used about 44 oz of both kinds of chocolate for a double recipe – so almost half of what he uses. You can skip the nuts, but I think they really add to the flavor of the cookie. I have used both pecans and walnuts and like them both equally.

My biggest mistake when baking these is cooking them too long. You can take them out of the oven when the centers still look light brown and not totally set. They will cook a bit longer as they cool on the cookie sheet until you remove them to a cooling rack. The outer edges will be crunchy and the middle more cake-like and soft.