One Fine Chocolate Chip Cookie! Jacques Torres' Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am always on the lookout for good chocolate chip cookie recipes and I subscribe to Martha Stewart's "Cookie of The Day" newsletter.  I have found SO many good recipes from her website! Most are not "jump up and down saying yummy" good enough to post about but I have to say that I think these are worth a post! I made them yesterday without the expectation that they would be anything that special - I mean, how much different can a chocolate chip cookie recipe be after one tries a bunch of them! Both DH and I were most pleasantly surprised. I should note that I did not have Jacque Torres chocolate on hand  (I'd never heard of it as a brand) so I used always on hand Toll House chips.

Also I considered making a double batch because I wanted enough to be able to take a bunch into work this week too. I used a large tablespoon sized cookie scoop - I think that this would be more like the one ounce scoop that is mentioned in the instructions. I am glad that I elected to only make one recipe's worth - my Kitchen Aid mixer could not have managed more than a single. As it was the mixer shuddered a bit.  Here you go! Try them at your peril - they are addictive! Thank you Martha Stewart for keeping my cookie jar full! You can also click on the link I added to take you to the Martha Stewart page - and you could print from there if you prefer!

Ingredients

Makes twenty-six 5-inch cookies or 8 1/2 dozen 1 1/4-inch cookies

• 1 pound unsalted butter
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons pastry flour
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 pounds Jacques Torres House (60 percent cocoa) Chocolate or other best-quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add both flours, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, and chocolate; mix until well combined.
3. Using a 4-ounce scoop for larger cookies or a 1-ounce scoop for smaller cookies, scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until lightly browned, but still soft, about 20 minutes for larger cookies and about 15 minutes for smaller cookies. Cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Taste Tempting Thursday: Dutch Almond Cookies

This is one of my favorite recipes.
I love almonds & these are simple
but perfect almond cookies. Enjoy!

Dutch Almond Cookies
a recipe by a woman named Rita Gyswit that my boss, Marion Melville shared with me.

Ingredients:
1 C butter
1.5 C granulated sugar ( plus some extra for top)
2.5 C flour
2 Tbs Almond extract
1 egg plus 1 yolk (save the white)

Mix together the butter, sugar, extract & egg & the extra yolk.
NOTE: do not grease the pans or sift the flour.
Add flour.
Press into two 9 inch cake pans.
Pour the remaining egg white over the tops & sprinkle (or place in a pattern) slivered, un-blanched almonds into the egg white. Sprinkle the tops with some additional sugar

Bake at 325 for 30 to 40 minutes.
After the pans cool a bit, slice the cookies. Cover the tops of the pan tightly and set them in a cool place to ripen for two weeks.
After two weeks : AHHHHHHHHH!!! Enjoy. I have been known to shorten this time !

As the New Year dawned I really thought that I had a plan to post something every day. It just is not happening. I really don't know how people who post - and post with good content - manage it on a daily basis. I come home from work just too tired to think creatively. One of my thoughts for the year - rather than call it a resolution - is to try and concentrate on doing things that bring me joy. At times that means not allowing myself to get caught up in feeling that I should do something. I am going to make art, in whatever medium strikes my fancy, as the muse moves me to. I am not going to worry if I am accepted into a show or an exhibit, or if, indeed, I have made anything worthy of entering to begin with. I am not going to worry about whether or not my work is salable or good enough. I am not going to chase rainbows. I am just going to eliminate that kind of stress & I am going to try to relish the moments as they present themselves. That means that there are times, like now, when I have projects in the works, but they are not yet worth sharing. In lieu of trying to have something creative to share all the time I will be sharing some of my favorite recipes, photos, thoughts on some of my favorite subjects; color, scents,history & textiles. I will probably not post very often mid week, but will on my long weekends that I so enjoy. I am really excited about this year & about the possibilities that I will find as I try to slow my mind down. I am aiming for quality not quantity - in every area of my life. I hope you will continue to enjoy the moments with me.