HIDDEN AGENDA CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

“Look, there's no metaphysics on earth like chocolates.” – Fernando Pessoa

This week I began a new theatrical journey as part of the cast of The Brontes, a new rock musical about The Brontes family. I play Emily, who I am realizing, as I read more about her, is a totally bad-ass chick. She shot guns. She shunned usual gender roles. I mean, she was pretty incredible.  You can check out more about the show here: http://www.dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2012/06/12/coming-to-the-capital-fringe-festival-dizzy-miss-lizzies-roadside-revue-presents-the-brontes-by-debra-buonaccorsi/.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because an all new show means an all new cast which means I am going to be baking for entirely new group of people. So, I wracked my brain for the best thing to introduce my baking to these guys and get them to look forward to it weekly. Or maybe even daily if I’m feeling really ambitious.

When a friend suggested chocolate chip cookies I immediately said “no.” I said it just felt too bland to me, too simple. But honestly? The true reason I didn’t want to try a chocolate chip cookie? I was scared. They’re like red roses or Casablanca, a classic. I mean, I haven’t been baking for that long, and what if I screwed up something that is completely beloved? I mean, most people’s first memory of dessert is a chocolate chip cookie. It’s an initiation to sugar town. What if I was the creator of a cookie that didn’t live up to expectations?

Once I realized that it was fear that was keeping me from attempting this timeless celebration of sugar and butter, I decided I had to try it. I mean, there’s nothing as satisfying as a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. And from a baker’s POV they’re also a great canvas to try out new ways to give your own special signature to a very well-known and much-loved dessert. So chocolate chip cookies it was…but with a twist.

First, I decided that I would use not one but three types of chocolate. I went with chocolate chips, so that the pieces would all be uniform in size, and then purchased them in dark, semi-sweet and milk chocolate.

Now, one would think that would be enough to satisfy my creative side, but I really wanted something more. Something special, that made the chocolate-chip-cookie-eater go: “well that was unexpected.” And so I also purchased some chocolate-covered caramels (Rolos) with the intention of hiding them within the cookies, so when someone takes a bite of what they believe to be simply a delightful chocolate chip treat, they are greeted with a mouthful of gooey caramel to go along with their dessert.

So now that I (hopefully) have you all salivating, here is our recipe for:

HIDDEN AGENDA CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups unsalted butter (softened)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar (packed means that you keep pushing it down so that a lot of brown sugar fits tightly into the cup)

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 eggs

3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

¾ cup dark chocolate chips

¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

¾ cup milk chocolate chips

42 FROZEN Rolos (at least, I made 42. It really depends on the size of your cookies. So, I say get a whole large bag and see how many your end up using)

BEFORE YOU BEGIN: These Rolos MUST be frozen for at least 2 hours prior to baking! I unwrapped all of mine and put them into tupperware to freeze them. 

Directions:

1.     FREEZE ROLOS

a   

     And then remember "mise en place." Get everything ready and in place for baking. 

2.     Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a small bowl. Use a whisk to mix together.

3.     In a large bowl, use a hand mixer on medium speed to beat together the butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs until the mixture is light and fluffy. I know this sounds annoying, but the light and fluffy phase can take up to around 5 minutes, with intermittent pauses to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4.     Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and continue to beat with the hand mixer, making sure that all of the flour mixture is incorporated into the butter mixture.

5.     Gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Milk Chocolate

Semi Sweet Chocolate

Dark Chocolate

Harmonious Chocolate

Gratuitous picture of chocolate chips #1

Gratuitous picture of chocolate chips #2 

6.     Take a handful of dough and roll it between your palms to form a ball, then place it onto a cookie sheet. Do this with remaining dough.

7.     Place a frozen Rolo into the center of each ball of dough, then reform the dough into a ball around the Rolo.

8.     Free the Rolo stuffed cookie dough for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees. (I froze the cookie dough in Tupperware, making two levels with a piece of wax paper. It kinda looked like a double decker bus)

9.     Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

1.  Bake cookies for 12 – 14 minutes, or until the edges are light brown.

Some of mine baked together in the oven so I had to cut them apart, it kinda created funny shapes, but whatever.. All's fair in chocolate and sugar. 

OKAY, so these cookies smell incredible from the oven! And I know I say that every time I bake something, but what’s awesome about these cookies is that as they bake the house fills with a smell like that of cinnamon buns. A smell so good that I actually brought my lap top into the kitchen to do my work at the counter, just so I could enjoy it for all 11 minutes.

11.  Take cookies out of the oven. THE CENTERS WILL BE WAY SOFT. You might think they look too soft, but they will harden.

12.  Give the cookies around 5 minutes to set.

13.  Move the cookies gently to a cooling rack. I am stressing the word gently here, because the centers are so soft and that can lead to some squishing during the move from cookie sheet to cooling rack…I had a few casualties…

14.  Let cool for about an hour.

15.  ENJOY THEM! And before you do, flip them over so you can see the weird tie-dye looking pattern the caramel made when melting into the bottom of the cookie!

Isn't it cool? It kinda looks like molten lava! 

CUT TO POST EATING THEM

So, dear readers, in my effort to explain how good these cookies are I have to get a little personal…

I am still not cured of my body dysmorphic disorder. I still get really sad sometimes after eating dessert. I have snuck off and cried after eating something I deemed bad. I have felt ill after a single bite of something sweet. I have heard my inner voice start to scream bloody murder as soon as I allow myself to indulge. So, in an effort to keep all those things from happening I generally allow myself a tiny bite of the things I make, or a single cookie, or half of a cupcake, or a spoonful of batter. Just enough to be able to explain how awesome it is to you, and to introduce myself to a talent I’ve developed that I am truly proud of, but unfortunately cannot always truly appreciate first hand.

Well, this dessert was different. Last night, despite all my best efforts, I couldn’t quiet the voice of the cookies. They were calling to me. Seriously. They were beckoning me from all rooms of my apartment to try them. I tried to stop it, but I couldn’t. And so, I did try one. And my eyes widened and I turned to the friend I was with and proclaimed: “Wow. I cannot believe I baked these.”  And for the first time since I started this whole journey I wasn’t hurt or mad at myself, I was just in complete awe that I had created something this effing tasty. I had done it. I had baked a worthy rendition of a classic.

So, there you have it. Pretty high praise for a dessert. It was so good that for the first time I could actually enjoy it without the fear of suddenly turning obese, or feeling weak, or unworthy. Maybe it’s because it’s such a classic dessert. Even body dysmorphic disorder can’t disobey the call of a classic. And now that I know that? I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Til next time,

D