Cookie For the Cookie Monster(s)

These are Chocolate Chocolate Chip and Almond Cookies. I am having one with a glass of milk as I am writing this blog post. 

Baking cookies seem to be so popular during the holidays. And as bakers, we try to give the customers what they want. We've baked oatmeal cookies and chocolate chip cookies, gingersnaps and biscotti. 

This is my favorite one so far. The cookie has a soft texture inside but the surface is crisp. So it won't crumble when you bite into it. If the cookie just came out of the oven and the chocolate chip is still melting and gooey it's just unbelievable! It's the best way to enjoy this cookie, you cookie monster, you! ( I mean, me!) 

If you like to make your cookies come out of the oven like so, here are a few pointers:

- Cream the butter, sugar and eggs properly. It's really just paying attention to the basics - use room temperature butter, adding the sugar slowly, adding eggs one at a time, and scraping the sides of the bowl of the mixer to incorporate the ingredients properly. 

- Fold the in the dry ingredients with a spatula. Your hands are the best tools, not the mixer. Gently folding the dry ingredients create a fluffier cookie, not dense, but still creates the structural integrity of a cookie. 

- Check your oven temperature and baking time. Even if your recipe calls for such baking temperature and number of minutes it sits inside the oven, you have to observe the visual indicators - is it spreading too fast, is it rising like a muffin top, are the sides starting to darken up fast? Those are the few things you need to evaluate so you would need to adjust the temperature, turn the baking sheet around, or re-position the baking sheet. Use your best judgement. Whilst in the oven and it's close to getting baked as your cookie recipe calls for, gently press the center of the cookie to see if it has firmed up and it bounces back, your cookie is done. Pull the baking sheet out of the oven right away..

Enjoy baking!