C is for Chocolate Chip Cookie

C is for Cookie.

Nope. C is for Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Now I am baffled. I look at the picture of the stack of chocolate chip cookie at the top of my blog header and I remember I blogged about them quite a long time back, in fact more than a year back. Now I cannot find the post. I probably dreamt I blogged about it then.

On second thoughts, perhaps I really did not blog about it..since that was using the Nestle Toll House recipe which can be found almost everywhere and since it was the crunchy type which is not really my preferred type of cookie. But oh well, I shall include it in my recipe blog over here, just in case I need it someday. *gasp! I looked through all my old posts and saw that I did want to blog about it...it is still in draft mode, since 10 November 2008!*

Now, the important part of this post is here. Haha, I see your eyes following the underlined words. 

Somebody made an enquiry about ordering a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies the other day. Honestly, it had been a long time since I last ate a choc chip cookie and I almost forgot how the ones at famous chains like Famous Amos and Mrs Fields taste like. And it has also been a long time since I made drop cookies. 

To refresh my memory (and to check out their pricing), I deliberately drove to buy 3 cookies while I was out running some errands. At the same time, I already had on hand, a recipe I found, which look really good.

I took a bite of the choc chip cookie...and I wondered why, I raved and craved for those cookies 15 years ago. Perhaps they tasted really nice 15 years ago? Perhaps my hands were smaller  back then and the cookies looked tastier and bigger in my hands? Fast forward to 15 years later, I took a bite and did not feel the wow factor anymore. In fact, I feel it was rather overpriced (yes, I get more stingy the older I get) and actually the older-me now prefers Subway's chewy cookies. 

Before I had time to debate with people on whose cookies are better, I tried the recipe I found and made some little adjustments as I went along. Each cookie came out nicely rounded. They looked slightly puffed when baked but will be fine when they are cooled.

This recipe is supposed to be called a copycat of a famous chocolate chip cookie. But when I took a bite of this, and took a bite of the real Mrs Fields cookie I had, I prefer this. But really, everyone has different preferences, to each his own.

 

  

If you would like to try these cookies, here is the recipe. Remember to use good chocolate and good vanilla, they make all the difference!

Basic Muffins (with chocolate chip) - Muffin method

There is a weird relationship between me and muffins. It seems like we cannot get enough of each other and I am not sure why.

Yesterday morning, there was a chocolate bun for my breakfast. Yet, I felt I had to make some muffins. I have tried many muffins from local stores. Some of the best muffins I have tasted are from small scale bakery shops in neighbourhoods, instead of the the more popular muffin stores. There is one thing in common, many of them use a basic muffin recipe for most (not all) of their flavours and then just differentiate by adding different toppings. Not the best way to make tasty muffins, but definitely the most economical way for doing a business.

I have found many muffin recipes which I intend to try but I decided to go ahead with a basic muffin recipe. The muffin was moist and sweetness was just right.

I added chocolate chips to it, and though just-out-of-the-oven muffins are always nice, this muffin tastes better today, than when it was just out of the oven yesterday.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin

As you can see, I've been trying to make my pictures nicer. I like them, I hope they make my stuff look more appetising.

I am done with my banana chocolate chip muffins for July's bake on Sweet and Simple Bakes (please visit their site for recipe)! I bought some new paper cases and which I really like. My colleague at work tried it and liked the fact that it's not too sweet and she could taste lots of bananas and chocolate chips. Her only complaint was she found them too small, she would have preferred them to be bigger so that she could just eat 1 for breakfast! As usual, dear says they are nice and taste good. My friend will be coming over to my place tomorrow. I hope she will like them too!

Oh, by the way, I increased the amount of chocolate chips by 50 grams as I love chocolate chips.

If I have the time, I probably will bake these again before August! :D

P.S. Just added another picture. This is taken with natural light, which I prefer.

Chocolate chip muffins

Finally brought my oven to my new place just now. Cheated by making a muffin premix. Haha! I was amazed at how they can allow us to "simply add water" and voila, comes the muffins!

I had not wanted to make from scratch, partly because I did not have more time just now. I also tried out my oven thermometer for the first time, and what a difference it makes! Now I know I had been baking blindly..guessing at the temperatures..no wonder they are always not consistent.

The Betty Crocker muffins turn out moist and soft. And I like these pictures. It's not always that I manage to take nice pictures. The black dining table helps a lot!

Double chocolate chip cookies

I was wanting to buy bananas today to bake a banana bread for the banana bread bake off organised by Not Quite Nigella. Can you believe it, I cannot find any ripe bananas!! Have all the monkeys gotten them? Haha.

In the end, I decided to make something chocolatey. I seem to be in a chocolatey mood. I just bought a pack of M&M to snack on in the office today, and I am not usually a snack person, though chocolate is my weakness. I took out my Donna Hays recipe book and chose the double chocolate chip cookie.

It was really nice! Though I wish they were a bit more chewy than crispy. Instead of dark chocolate chunks, I added the remaining of my Hersheys chocolate chips into the final mixture. The kitchen was filled with the aroma of chocolate. The recipe says it makes 16 cookies. They must've been giantic ones, because I made more than 40 cookies, and they are already bigger than what I usually make.

I wish I am having these cookies with my husband, with a hot steaming cup of hot chocolate, while chatting into the night..

*pokes my dream bubbles* reality is....I have to go to bed now, and turn up for work tomorrow. But hey, tomorrow is Friday!! Yeah!

Maybe if I have the time over the weekend, I might still make it for the Bake Off!

more choc chip cookies!

more choc chip cookies! these are from the remaining dough which i chilled in the fridge...and of course, after being chilled, they are better than the ones i made on thursday. my chief guinea pig (aka my mum) took one immediately and said it was better :)

inclusive of the ones on thursday, the dough made 100+ cookies! so you see how much cookie shops are earning?

chocolate chip cookies

Thursdays and baking does not seem to ever go together. this evening, i had planned to come back on time to make some muffins or cupcakes for my friends when i meet them tomorrow.

As usual, when I plan something, it will actually go the other way. my work ended later than usual today and i got home only at 7.45pm. Frantic with the lack of time, and lack of milk in my fridge, i decided to find a recipe without milk, and it was cookies.

something however came over me, and made me want to put them on paper liners to bake instead. i seem to vaguely remember seeing an ex classmate do so, so as not to let the cookie spread out too much. But they ended up coming out with the lines of the paper liners, which cookies should not have. Moreover, i added less butter than called for, so the cookie is a bit too dry.

i rushed and rushed, because i had to shower (i was really stinky!) and had to make it in time for a flat-viewing appointment at 9.30pm.

the flat is nothing to shout about, and so are my cookies. this is one lesson i will learn. i have attempted to bake for my friends on a few thursday nights, and they always turn out wrong, because i do not have the mood to do so on thursdays, and i do not like to rush through the process which i enjoy.

this is not an excuse! i know it, because i have made nicer cookies than the ones i made tonight! And my mum agrees..

Quenching my thirst for home-baked muffins

i passed by a shop yesterday, called Little Sweet Things. They sold donuts and muffins. It was at a rather unquiet corner of a busy housing estate, and my colleague told me that sometimes, there are queues there. I looked at the signboard and a beautiful and proportionate muffin, so i decided to try some.

i bought 1 peanutella, 1 banana walnut and a double chocolate chip. Though I bought 3, I could not smell any of them, not even when I left the bag untied while in the car. Ok, i have to taste it first. They look rather nice, but the taste is disappointing. I tried some at night, and of course by then, it was a bit oily. But the thing is, the smell is not strong enough. I ate the peanutella this morning, and the rest was my mum's breakfast. Her verdict when she is back -- the muffins are not nice. She prefers mine. *a big smile with victory sign*

Since I was on half day leave today, I thought I had to come back early to bake something. Actually 2 nights ago I was already dying to bake something, but baking on weekdays is just too tight for time. So today, I quickly shopped for a while, and then came back to bake. Oh by the way, I bought a new toy for myself -- I got a new digital weighing scale! :D

I tried chocolate chip muffins. ok, sounds like nothing difficult right? Right, it is nothing difficult, just that I had overmix it a little and it was a little harder than usual. But i like the way the little fellows crack today. My muffins usually do not crack much, until today.And to be honest, the smell is nicer and stronger than the ones I bought yesterday, and I am not even using my more expensive choc chips today! I even bought a new plate (of course one of my fav brand!), to photograph the little fellows.

My mum came home, asking me which one she can eat. She found 1 of the little fellows, one which looked plain because its choc chips are embedded inside. She told him "you...i know you are the pathetic one...even if i do not eat you, you will still have no chance to be photographed because you are not photogenic enough...so let me help you out of your misery...i shall eat you up..." hahahaha.. my mum, talking to my muffins, she must be going crazy with the muffins i stuff her with. I made some big ones, and some mini ones, and here they are.

banana and chocolate chip bread

i missed my oven. the day after i came back, i took a good rest at home, then i realised that i had no bread for breakfast for the next day. so i decided to bake myself some bread.

i found a receipe for banana and choc chip bread on the net and gave it a try. it was very nice, although it tasted more like cake than bread. there was 12 slices in a loaf, and they disappeared very quickly because my family liked it. i felt flattered of course. i myself only had half a slice.

the hershey's choc chips were great, and so were the bananas. hmmm....i really could imagine the smell of it now. but i have to keep some for my sis to try...so too bad, half slice is all i can have.