Quality Time

Time...
Wow, we could get pretty deep with the study of time , but I never was much for studying.

The other day My daughter asked if we could make cookies for her to bring to a group of volleyball players she is helping coach. Of course how can I refuse that right? Well truth be told Andrea did most of the work I just "coached" her through it. I always like it when Andrea shows interest in baking and so I take advantage of that and show her some tricks and tips on baking and cleaning and being organized.

She is always telling me how her friends think she is so lucky to have a baker for a dad "you must get this good stuff all the time!" . Not so at the Baker's house. first of all I'm trying to lose a little weight and that doesn't help at all, and secondly I do that stuff all the time for work so why would I do it at home!

I have a recipe for your standard chocolate chip cookies that just turns out perfect every time.
The catch is though that I use a scale to measure my ingredients. Using a scale takes a lot of the inconsistency out of baking. Of course being a baker I compared how we did it in the bakery with how most people do it at home , Cups and teaspoons as opposed to pounds and ounces. In fact I take it a step further and use a scale that has a grams setting which of course means that I had to change all my recipes to metric. Fortunately I know how to do this from my bakery training.

Measuring by volume can be very inaccurate when measuring things like flour because the flour can be either too fluffy or too compacted.
I use a scale that can be zero-ed out after each addition of ingredient which makes the measuring really fast, very accurate, and I can do it right into the mixing bowl. Using a scale guarantees you that you will have the same amount every time.

Here's the recipe

Chocolate Chip Cookies

170 g Granulated sugar
170 g Brown sugar
10 g baking soda
10 g salt
255 g butter/shortening/margarine ( I like using block margarine)
426 g All Purpose flour
2 eggs
227 g chocolate chips

• cream the sugars and the butter or margarine in a mixer until smooth
• add the eggs and blend with the sugar/butter mixture
  
• add the flour (with the salt and baking soda sifted into it) a little at a time while mixing slowly
• when all the flour is mixed in then add the chocolate chips just until mixed in
• make into logs of dough and refrigerate until ready to bake (or bake right away)
• after removing from the fridge, cut into equal size pieces and bake at 350* until light brown around the edges and just set in the middle.

If you need a scale you can buy a decent one at Ikea for about 20$ or you can just use a diet scale if it has grams on it.

I guarantee this recipe will produce delicious chocolate chip cookies every time... especially if you make them with your kids.

Make it with love,

Mike the Baker Boy