Science Experiment

Chocolate chip cookies have always been a fallback dessert I can handle from scratch. So, in an exceedingly unnecessary impulse, I bought an enormous bag of chocolate chips from Costco. When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, I've been sticking to the Nestle Toll House recipe on the back of the bag of chocolate chips (generally, but not necessarily skipping the nuts). Other than the nuts (boyfriend) in this apartment! Zing! In any case, my concern about the recipe was that the cookies always seemed a little flat and crispy on the edges. According to my cookie fantasies, they should be thicker, chewier. I mentioned this to a friend at work, and he told me—after shuddering at the thought of the Nestle recipe—that the key was melting the butter in the microwave before adding it to the mixer. I really do have too many food snobs in my life, but at least they know the tricks. So, I sent my boyfriend Nick (another food snob) to Google to find me a cookie recipe that promised a thick and chewy result. He printed one out for me, and indeed, as my friend at work suggested, this recipe called for the butter to be melted beforehand. Other differences were a larger proportion of brown sugar to granulated, and an egg and a yolk, rather than two whole eggs. Also, slightly less salt and butter. And I made the cookies larger in general. So, I had to bake about four at a time for eighteen minutes each. This ultimately killed my night. Worth it? I'm going to go with no. I have to say, though, I was genuinely surprised in the change in texture. Thicker, chewier, and generally what I was going for. The taste, however, was slightly muted. They're not bad, I just get the sense that the majority of the flavor is coming from the chocolate chips. Nick suggested that next time I revert back to Nestle's proportions of salt and butter. However, it was my understanding that baking isn't something you screw around with. The answer is probably just to never make chocolate chip cookies again. And now I'm stuck with a giant bag of chocolate chips.