2.09.2011

Ultra-Thin Chocolate Chunk Cookies




It's Cookie Week. Well, Cookie Week should occur 52 times a year (every week for those who abhor math just as much as I do), but I've been on a cookie kick this particular week and have already baked two kinds of cookies with two more hitting the counter with the undeniable waft of buttery, chocolaty, green tea-y (yes, I made green tea cookies; green tea sablés, in fact) aromatic perfection.

Saturday actually started Cookie Week. All it took was a visit from about 5 of my cousins with demands of being fed and well, my golden heart and hostess/cousinly duty can't turn them away.

I love baking for others. I love the expectation of having something sweet ready for people when they come to my house and getting enjoyment from fulfilling their expectations. I think that's also why I love my huge family so much--they're so amazingly wonderful and would eat anything I bake and claim it as tasty, even if it wasn't my best batch (but, um, that's not to say I feed them anything bad).




This is my favorite cookie dough to eat (which implies that I eat all cookie dough batter I make. And I do. I think my body is immune to raw egg after doing so for 10 years). For one, it's the safest cookie dough since it has no eggs. The sweetness from the sugars and corn syrup blend with the melted butter and offer a darker, sweet, buttery flavor that slowly settles on the tongue without too much of a saccharine taste, and the oats offer substance to the batter.

The only bad thing about this recipe is that there isn't enough cookie dough; once I ate nearly half of the cookies before they even went into the oven.




Ultra-Thin Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons (5 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
½ cup quick cooking oats
¼ cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
2 tablespoons whole milk
½ teaspoon salt
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small chunks or about 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions: 
Position the racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line two cookie sheets with silicone mats or aluminum foil.
In a bowl, stir together the flour and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the melted butter and oats. Whisk in the granulated sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, milk, and salt. Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated. If the dough is warm from the butter, wait until it cools before stirring in the chocolate chunks.
Using a cookie scoop, or a tablespoon, drop cookies onto baking sheet, spacing them wide apart, about 2 inches in between each cookie. The cookies will spread out while baking.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cookies are well browned and not at all shiny in the center, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days. 


These are also very good with a nice cup of tea on your mother's china. Or on your own.

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