Toll Booth Willie Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Is there anyone out there who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies?! Okay, besides vegans and their disdain for butter, and maybe people who don't like chocolate. (both groups should probably be brought in for questioning and subsequent evaluation.......just kidding!) All jokes aside, chocolate chip cookies are a treat that has the ability to warm the soul of young and old alike. So why are there so many bad cookies being served out there in the world? So many tasteless discs wrapped in cellophane packages with stickers denoting their shelf life, whose ingredient lists more closely resemble a science experiment than a baked good. How do we remedy this? It's easy, bake your own. You will enjoy them thoroughly, and I promise you will have no problem giving them away to people who will be more than happy to take them off your hands. They are a perfect addition to your politically correct non-denominational holiday party! Great for that PTA gathering that has been looming on your schedule. Be the ultimate soccer mom and bring these to the next game (just don't forget the orange wedges and Capri Sun!). Running late in the morning, coffee and two cookies will hold you until lunch. In big news here at thehumblecooknyc offices, we have decided to publish our very first recipe, our Toll Booth Willie Chocolate Chip Cookies! Now there are a few things to know about this recipe, whose name clearly pays homage to an American classic. Unlike many food writers out there (many of whom have recognizable first names) I will not deceive you into thinking that I am presenting some groundbreaking recipe. So many of the chocolate chip cookie recipes swirling around the web, or slipped into the latest "how to be a Mom" book are a blatant rip-off of the recipe featured on the ubiquitous yellow bag. They change one measurement and pretend that they spent years perfecting their perfect concoction. As Anthony Bourdain would say, I call BS! The reason people do it is that so many of our food references are built in childhood memories, and for so many people that included a batch of 'yellow bag' cookies. The truth is, that recipe makes a damn good cookie. I give credit where credit is due, so our recipe is simply enhanced. Think of it as the HD Digital Cable Widescreen Dolby Surround Sound version. After all, the original recipe was invented by Ruth Wakefield in 1930, around the time TV's first became commercially available. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be satisfied to watch a tiny black and white TV, so why settle for the cookies that people ate at the time. That being said, let's all give thanks to Ruth for creating THE cookie, the one whose impact on American culture is without parallel. It's impact has been so great that I can't think of another recipe (savory or sweet) that has stood the test of time as THE standard like Ruth's has. (As with many great things, Ruth and her Toll House Inn were from New England, and she basically added chocolate chunks to a classic colonial recipe for Butter Drop Do cookies). One final thought about cookies that was prompted by a conversation I had with a friend recently. I am a guy. I like to watch football. I love to play sports, and I don't mind being dirty. I insist on carrying heavy things by myself, even when it hurts. Asking for directions is always a painful endeavor. But I really like to bake cookies, and I am one hundred percent fine with that. I like to strap on the apron (figuratively, seeing as I don't own one) and get it done. I prefer baking cookies to hanging out with guys who drink beer, eat chicken wings, and generally act as if they were an incredibly vulgar seven-year old. Gentlemen.....it is okay to enjoy baking, cooking, or what have you. The kitchen is not off limits to those who want to retain their masculinity.

So here is our recipe (rip-off?), but read on to hear our thoughts on some important points.

Toll Booth Willie Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 3/4 sticks of unsalted butter, softened (7 oz.)

3/4 cup sugar (5.25 oz)

3/4 firmly packed light brown sugar (6 oz.)

2 large eggs at room temperature

2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups of unbleached organic all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of fine sea salt (actually just a smidge under 1 teaspoon is perfect)

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 cup of dark chocolate, preferably 60-70% cacao, chopped into small chunks (6 oz.)

1 cup milk chocolate chips (7 oz.)

1. If you plan to bake the cookies immediately, preheat your oven to 350F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

2. Place the butter, brown sugar, and sugar in a mixer. Beat until smooth, light, and creamy, about 2 min, or longer if mixing by hand.

3. Add the eggs (pre-beaten) and vanilla, and beat until just combined.

4. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the flour mixture to your wet ingredients and beat on low speed just until the flour is combined, no more.

5. Add both chocolates, and again beat on low speed until your dough comes together and looks delicious!

6. If you are baking your cookies immediately disregard this step. If you want the ultimate Toll Booth Cookie, cover your bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator, preferably overnight, but a few hours will also work.

7. Place the dough in rounded tablespoon like mounds on the baking sheet, giving them plenty of room to spread. Bake for 7 min, then rotate the pan and continue to bake the cookies for another 5 to 7 min. It is better to have the cookies looking underdone in the center, instead of browning, because they will continue to cook after removing them from the oven (allowing for a chewier cookie). Take the cookies out of the and let them sit on the pan for at least a few minutes before using a spatula to move them to a cooling rack.

8. Repeat

9. Eat and enjoy with family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, or random people you have never met.

Let's talk a little bit about the Toll Booth Willies, and what makes them special.

First things first, ingredients. This is incredibly important because you simply can't create something that is better than the building blocks you use. If your ingredients are sub par, your cookies will be too, no matter how good the recipe is. So.....

-Use the freshest eggs possible, looking for vivid orange yolks.

-High quality dark chocolate is a must, and makes all the difference. Valhrona is the best, but Callebaut makes some solid chocolates that are far more affordable.

-This recipe ups the ante with vanilla because we feel that it creates are far better cookie. Please use real vanilla extract, not the imitation stuff that tastes like a gas station.

-King Arthur Flour is highly recommended. It is available almost everywhere, and the quality is solid.

Some notes on the recipe itself......

-If you can, get yourself a small oven thermometer. So many people fail at baking simply because their oven dial is miles away from the temperature actually being created inside. Baking these cookies at 350F allows for a chewier cookie than other recipes that call for 375F, which tends to crisp the edges too much.

-The refrigeration of the dough really allows the flavors to take shape, and it also prevents the dough from spreading too quick and overbaking.

-When a recipe calls for room temperature butter, it usually means just that. If the butter is still cold at all, it simply doesn't cream properly with the sugar. You want the airy, yet creamy texture that only warm butter can produce.

-We bake one sheet at a time, but I employ two baking sheets in the process. The second sheet to go in should be cold. If you use the same hot sheet pan the bottoms of the cookies brown too quickly. If you only have one sheet pan, cool it off under running water before using it for the second batch.

Don't skip the dessert!

Classic desserts are something that simply never seems to go out of style. I can vividly recall many a meal that has been mediocre at best, yet was saved by a splendidly sweet flourish at the end of a meal. Do I have a sweet tooth, yes indeed. Is there ever a time when dessert seems like a bad idea? Not likely. If I cared to be fully honest I could disclose the fact that as a child I may have overindulged in sweets, but this assessment rests precariously on the notion that consuming a half gallon of ice cream in a sitting qualifies as overindulgence. Fortunately I made it out alive, and let go of some of my childhood obsession with sweets. Don't get me wrong, I still crave sweets, but moderation is certainly the order of the day. I believe that erroneous thinking has taken over America, one in which dessert is the enemy. My theory is that sweets are wonderful, and should be eaten regularly. I would rather eat a slice of pie and never touch HFCS laden soda. Skip the Big Mac, and instead bake yourself a delicious batch of cookies. It's all give and take, but rest assured, you can maintain a reasonable weight while fully satisfying any sweet craving that comes down the pike. I say this from experience, being that people always comment about how I eat like a horse but remain by most accounts, rather thin. I could tell you that I have a fast metabolism, or that I exercise like a fiend, or that the new diet book to hit the shelves was a real winner. Lies, all of them. I don't eat like a horse. In fact, most people would be amazed at the fact that I eat much less than previously realized. Strange, being that I seem to have a bit of a preoccupation with food. Simply put, I eat what I want, when I want, mostly healthy, home-cooked food. I try and do some active things, but you aren't going to catch me running a marathon anytime soon. Food is meant to be enjoyed, and enjoy it I do. And dessert certainly factors in heavily to that equation. Few things can transport us back to childhood joy and innocence like a scoop of really good ice cream. Few things pack the memory filled punch of a freshly baked pie. And few people can say, with a straight face, that they don't love the smell and taste of a batch of chocolate-chip cookies fresh out of the oven. Life is just far too short to deny our biological wiring that overwhelmingly shouts that sweet equates to good.

I do not begrudge the pastry chefs out there who are doing amazing, modern interpretations of their sugar laden fantasies. (If you aren't up on it, check out Michael Laiskonis of Le Bernardin or Brooks Headley of Del Posto, who both turn out incredible creations from their pastry kitchens.) Yet for as stunning as many modern desserts can be, what I usually crave are classic flavor combinations that harken back to simpler times. Perfectly sublime vanilla ice cream? Why yes, I would love some (and so easy to make at home, I promise). Elegantly smooth and rich pumpkin pie? Indeed. Brownies? If you insist. Strawberries with freshly whipped cream? How could I ever say no (Actually I will quickly say no if it is January, because the last time I checked, strawberries don't grow during the winter, at least not where I'm from. And there is something devastatingly disappointing about a rock hard and fully tasteless strawberry that has spent weeks on a truck getting to the supermarket.) The other interesting thing about dessert is that making them at home will naturally limit the amount you will ultimately eat. I am not busy turning out sugary treats each and every day (though my new mixer certainly upped the ante for a couple of weeks), but am instead waiting for inspiration or a craving to dictate when the time is right. The other magical byproduct of homemade desserts is that it creates a decidedly altruistic approach to food. Bake some cookies and bring them with you the next time you are going to be around a group of people. I promise you that smiles will be your reward. Dessert makes people happy, and it can soften the hardest of folks into a state of childlike wonder.

So what have I been making? Well there was the Black Bottom Cheesecake Cupcakes (that's a mouthful) that are from a newspaper article my mother clipped sometime in the '80's. They are a true crowd pleaser, with the chocolate-chip cheesecake playing the perfect counterpoint to the decadent chocolate cake. Many cupcakes suffer from the 'I need a glass of water' syndrome, dryness outweighing flavor, but these little babies are as moist as could be. There was also a classic chocolate souffle that was divine (strong words, but it really was transcendent). Pulling a hot souffle out of the oven is a show stopper. Puffed up, with just the slightest jiggle to its velvety consistency, the heady perfume of dark chocolate filling the room. And a show stopper is sometimes just what the doctor ordered on a night filled with endless dreary studying to tend to. Souffles are slightly tricky, but certainly not impossible, the hardest part being the achievement of perfect consistency of the egg whites. Now, having a stand mixer certainly makes this much more feasible, but prior to receiving one as a gift I hand-whipped everything. It is possible, and if you want to build forearm strength, whipping egg whites may be the finest exercise. There was also a pumpkin pie that was so rich and tasty that it made me question how anyone could ever think that the inclusion of squashes in the realm of sweets is an error in judgement. One last thing to consider is the fact that freshly whipped cream makes just about anything sweet that much better. It is cream and sugar after all!

Go make yourself some dessert. Better yet, make someone else some dessert. You will both feel better about the world.

Soon I will be revealing my ultimate chocolate-chip cookie recipe.......stay tuned.