I almost sat this week's recipe out but then decided to go for it after all. So around midnight on Saturday I made the dough and decided to use a combination of semi-sweet chocolate chips and butterscotch chips (4 ounces each). What can I say? It was too late to be chopping chocolate. And instead of roasting natural almonds, I used those ready-to-eat salted/roasted almonds, which worked great.
I'm glad I didn't skip this week. These cookies were chewy in the middle and crispy around the edges with a great buttery taste, just the way I like them. I love the crunch of the almonds which I gave a very rough chop. I only wish my cookies turned out as this thick as Melissa's. Maybe I'll add a bit more flour next time. Check out the recipe here. Thanks for picking a great cookie recipe, Melissa. No wonder it's a favorite at the bakery.
Final thoughts/tips:
- Hubby and I enjoyed these cookies. He gave it an 8 out of 10. His only dislike was that the cookie left his fingers more "oily" than usual. I might add a tablespoon of flour to hopefully fix that issue.
- Using butterscotch chips and chocolate chips was a last-minute decision. To my taste, the cookie was a tad too sweet. I'm sure it would have been the right amount of sweetness if I had used chocolate chips only. So next time, I'd use a tad less sugar when using butterscotch chips.
- I added a teaspoon of molasses to the dough to enhance the brown sugar flavor in the cookie. It also adds to the browning of the cookie.
- Unfortunately, I read this tip a bit too late but I thought I'd share it with you all for next time. Place your wrapped cookie dough inside of an empty paper towel roll so that you don't get that flat underside. I got this tip from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book.
- Don't forget to check out the SMS blogroll to see how other SMS bakers liked this cookie.
Good call on not sitting this one out! Your cookies look great and the addition of butterscotch chips sounds yummy. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to have a nut allergy; almonds are my favorite nut, though, so at least you can have (in my opinion) the good ones.
ReplyDeleteHi Hanaâ!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you decided to give this recipe a go and bake this week. It's funny, as I was reading your post, I kept saying, I thought that too! I guess we're on the same page! I noticed that Melissa's cookies had much less spread and were definitely thicker than mine. Maybe her fridge is extra cold! My mom noted that the cookies were a bit sweeter than other choc chip cookies I've made, so it might not just have been your butterscotch chips. Good idea on the molasses- almost like using dark brown sugar instead of light. And ever since I read the tip from ATK, I ALWAYS use the paper towel roll trick for slice-and-bakes. Too funny! Thanks for stopping by my site, and I hope to talk to you again after next weekend's recipe!
-Joy
I always forget that tip about the empty paper towel roll. I just tossed one into the recycling bin, too! I'm glad I wasn't the only one whose cookies went soft. They were delicious, though!
ReplyDeleteGreat tip about the paper towel roll! Your cookies look great!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures! And what a cool tip about the paper towel roll... I'll have to try that! :)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting about the paper towel roll; I would never have thought of that! Isn't funny how even though the dough blobs aren't perfectly round, the cookies turn out beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYour cookies look marvelous! Thanks for the fun tip - I've never heard of using an empty paper towel roll!
ReplyDeleteYour cookies look great!
ReplyDeleteYour cookies look great, I'm glad you went ahead and made them!! Thanks for posting the paper towel tip - I've read that before but forgot about it, so reading it again was a nice reminder. Great idea about the molasses - I was out of brown sugar entirely and just used granulated. Perhaps that was one of the reasons I thought the cookie was a little lacking in flavor. Wish I'd thought to add molasses!!! Ah well, next time...
ReplyDeleteHi Hanaâ!
ReplyDeleteThat was so sweet of you to let me know about the ATK pastry cream you made- sounds delicious, and you'll have to tell me if you end up making that Boston Cream Pie... that was actually one of the very first things I ever tried to bake from scratch. It was for a dear friend's birthday, and that happened to be his favorite. I chose a Martha Stewart recipe, made it 3 times before the "real" cake, and no matter how carefully I followed the recipe, the cake kept turning out heavy. I was so disappointed in myself, and remember crying over that cake! I'm glad that I didn't let that experience deter me from following my passion and continuing to bake for the ones I love. I've come a long way since then (it was a few years back) and maybe I should try a Boston Cream Pie again- if you find a great recipe, please share it with me!
So how goes the wedding cake baking? That's such a wonderful gift to give a couple for their special day, and I'm sure they will really appreciate all your hard work. Do you bake celebration cakes for a living? Either way, I'm sure it's a lot of pressure, so feel free to get in touch if you need a pep talk or any support- email me at joy.d.saunders@gmail.com or stop by http://hotovenwarmheart.wordpress.com anytime! I'd love to hear from you, and look forward to talking again after the next SMS post!
-Joy
These look yummy, Hanaa!
ReplyDeleteSorry I have been MIA, I have been so busy, but it has made me feel so bad not to have time to comment. Sorry it took me so long to get around to this post. The cookies look amazing. Hope all is well.
ReplyDelete