Cookie Chronicles - Toll House Cookies

I am on the hunt for the best chocolate chip cookie, and that means im currently on a diet solely consisting of cookies and milk. Is it even possible to find the one perfect recipe? Well i'm about to find out, I've partnered with Guittard Chocolate to go on a cookie adventure. This is the first in a six part series where I am putting some of the internets most popular recipes to the test to see if I can find the best one out there. Since we are talking the best, I thought it smart to start with the original, the cookie from which all other cookies sprang, the Toll House Cookie. Surprisingly I have never made this recipe despite its enduring popularity, but I put that down mainly to location. In the UK our knowledge of the recipe might stop at the episode of friends where Phoebe claims her grandmother invented the cookie (and yes the episode is definitely worth a rewatch), I'm not even sure I had a homemade chocolate chip cookie until I was in my late teenage years.

So what makes this recipe special? Why is it so popular? Well, to start with its been around a long time. The story goes that Ruth Wakefield invented the recipe in the 1930's when she owned the Toll House Inn, supposedly she wanted to make a chocolate cookie and chopped up a bar of dark chocolate and mixed it into her cookie dough. She was surprised to find that upon taking the finished cookies from the oven the chocolate had stayed in pieces. She loved the recipe, named them Chocolate Crunch Cookies and from their the recipe spread through the local community and then through the media and over the years it became what is surely the most popular chocolate chip cookie recipe out there. The interesting thing to note is that the cookie follows a lot of principles we use for cookies today and the resulting recipe is pretty similar to a lot of other cookie recipes out there, it definitely feels like the kicking off place for a lot of different chefs. 

The Breakdown

The ingredients are fairly standard, using plain/AP flour, baking soda, butter, caster and light brown sugar, vanilla, eggs and of course chocolate chips. The suggested size of the cookies is much smaller than average and due to the high ratio of white sugar (compared to most cookie recipes that use more light brown than caster) we can expect these cookies to be on the crisper side, which as anyone who loves cookies knows is a topic of controversy. Crisp or Chewy is the eternal cookie question after all. I will say my preference is a little crisp around the edges with chewy and soft middles. The original recipe also includes the option of chopped nuts but personally I like my cookies unadulterated so its pure chocolate for me.

Toll House Cookie Recipe
Makes 60

2 1/4 cups 315g plain/all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 sticks 225g unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup 150g granulated/caster sugar
3/4 cup, packed 165g light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12 oz 340g chocolate chips - I used Guittard 66% chips (see note below)

Preheat the oven to 375F 190C and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl using an electric mixer beat together the butter and sugars until creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat briefly to combine. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating until fully combined before adding the second. Gently mix in the flour mixture, just until combined then briefly mix in the chocolate chips, until evenly distributed. 

Form into tablespoon sized portions (I like to use spring loaded ice cream scoops for this, they come in all different sizes and make this job much easier and quicker) and place on the prepared baking trays, a couple inches apart. 

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on the trays for a couple minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Result
First off, this recipe makes a whole lot of cookies, 60 of them! These are so much smaller than todays cookies but the batch of dough roughly the same that this recipe churns out a lot of cookies so it would be great for a party. The cookies have a real crisp base and sides, have that real classic cookie flavour and because its a simple flavour the flavour of the chocolate really shines through. For my tastes they fall a little too far on the thin and crispy style of cookies but I can absolutely see why these are so popular, theyre incredibly simple to make, have a lovely flavour and for a lot of people who grew up on them, that will add a huge nostalgia hit and with baking that can never be underestimated.

Note: When it comes to chocolate chips not all are born equal. When looking to buy a chip for these cookies you need to have a look at the ingredients list. There should be nothing but chocolate, no vegetable fats, no oils nothing but cacao beans (in the form of solids, butter), sugar, vanilla and soya or sunflower lecithin, anything else added means it shouldn't be considered a quality dark chocolate and the taste and melt will be affected.

Paris-Brest

I have a huge love affair with recipes that come with an origin story, recipes like Tarte Tatin invented by mistake by the Tatin sisters in France, or Pavlova a dish created in honour of the Russian ballerina created in either Australia or New Zealand sometime in the 1920’s. Fairly often these stories have just a hint of truth, more myth that historical fact but there is still something about these stories that holds my interest. With the Paris-Brest we have a slightly more accurate understanding of the origins. The classic of french baking, a round choux pastry filled with a praline creme mousseline was created in 1910 by pastry chef Pierre Giffard. He was a big fan of cycling and the name and shape of the pastry was to reflect the Paris to Brest race that passed close to his shop just outside of Paris. Traditionally made with an almond praline it is now more commonly made with a hazelnut praline and is now one of the classics of French patisserie.

The recipe below is based on the version in my book Patisserie Made Simple but over the years since I wrote the book I have slightly tweaked the recipe, although the changes are minimal so if you have the book the recipe in the book still works wonderfully.

Hazelnut Mousseline Cream
500ml whole milk
4 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla bean extract
100g caster sugar
50g cornflour
250g unsalted butter
150g praline paste

To make the Paris-Brest it’s best to start with the mousseline as it needs plenty of time to chill. Start by placing the milk in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium/high heat. Meanwhile place the egg yolks, vanilla, caster sugar and cornflour into a large bowl and whisking to combine into a thick paste (if it is too thick and the mixture wont combine add a small splash of the milk before its had a chance to heat up properly). 

When the milk is at temperature pour into the egg mixture, whisking to prevent the eggs from overcooking. Pour the custard back into the pan and place back over the heat and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and bubbling, then cook for a minute or so more to cook out the cornflour fully. Scrape into a bowl then mix in 50g of the butter then press a sheet of clingfilm onto the surface of the custard, to prevent a skin from forming, then refrigerate until needed, at least 2 hours. Leave the remaining butter to come to room temperature

To finish off the mousseline place the remaining butter into a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, add the praline paste and mix to combine. If the butter is too cool and not at the right texture you run the risk of creating lumps in the finished mousseline so make sure the butter is nice and creamy before the next step. 

Remove the pastry cream from the fridge and using a whisk beat until brought back to a smooth texture. When it comes out of the fridge it will be a solid dense mass but with a little manpower it will smooth out. Add the pastry cream to the praline mixture into 3 or so additions, beating until fully combined before adding more. This slow combination of the two mixtures is simply to prevent lumps. Once everything has been combined you should have a mixture that has a texture similar to buttercream but lighter and much less sweet. If the texture looks a little shiny and loose placing the bowl in the fridge for up to an hour will really help.

Choux Pastry
60ml water
60ml whole milk
60g unsalted butter, diced
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp caster sugar
85g plain flour
2-3 large eggs
100g nibbed hazelnuts

To make the choux pastry place the water, milk, butter, sugar and salt into a large saucepan and place over medium/high heat cooking until the butter has melted and the whole mixture comes to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and in one go pour in the flour, mixing with a wooden spoon until everything comes together to form a dough. Initially it will resemble scrambled eggs but with a little mixing it will form a uniform dough. Place the pan back on the heat and cook, whilst stirring, for about 2-3 minutes or until a thin film has formed on the base of the pan (the film wont happen if using a non-stick pan). Pour the dough into a large bowl and mix for about 30 seconds to cool slightly. You can use an electric mixer or a wooden spoon for this, but you'll be mixing a lot so a wooden spoon will be quite a workout. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until fully incorporated before adding more. With choux pastry the amount of egg is always a guide, you'll need to make it a few times to really get the feel for the recipe. The end result you are looking for is a pastry with a slight gloss and one that holds a v-shaped ribbon when the wooden spoon is lifted from the bowl. To get a better indication of what the finished dough should look like, give my YouTube video a look, it really helps to see the finished texture. 

Line two baking trays with parchment paper and use an 8cm round cookie cutter, dipped in flour, to mark four circles as templates onto each piece of parchment. Place the choux pastry into a piping bag fitted with a french star tip and pipe rounds of pastry, using the templates as guides. Sprinkle liberally with the hazelnuts. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Turn off the oven and allow the pastries to dry out for about 10 minutes or so before removing and allowing to cool to room temperature.

To assemble the Paris-Brest use a serrated knife to cut the rings of pastry in half. Pipe a little extra praline paste into the base of each choux pastry and top with mousseline cream. The easiest way to do this is to place the cream into a piping bag with a french star tip and pipe peaks of the cream around the ring of pastry. Finish by placing the disk of pastry on top and dusting with a little icing sugar. 

The elements can all be made ahead but once assembled these are best on the day made.

Blueberry Oregano Compote with Oregano Lemon Cake

It might seem odd to use oregano in a sweet recipe as it really isn't that common, but trust me, this works so well. We have all become more and more accustomed to herbs traditionally used in savoury cooking appearing in desserts, think of a lemon and rosemary cake, a pear and thyme cake. How about a herbaceous basil ice cream, all much more commonplace these days but this isn't the case with oregano. It still seems a little unusual in a sweet dish and to be honest I wasn't 100% sure it would be a success, but when Schwartz asked me to try it I accepted the challenge and this is the result. When thinking about how herbs blend with sweet flavours there a few common themes but the main one is lemon, it really helps bridge the gap between the sweet and the savoury, it gives balance. The key to making any herb pairing like this work is balance and think of the lemon and the stuff that holds the whole recipe together. Use too much of any herb and the balance will be thrown off and use too little and well you just cant taste it. When playing around with this recipe I found the compote could stand up to a fair amount of the oregano, because the berries aren't the most assertive flavour for a fruit but more mellow and gently sweet the oregano didn't fight too much and just blends together really well. It gives the blueberries a wonderful depth and the herbaceous flavour adds really interest and actually intensifies the flavour in the compote.

You could serve this compote on waffles or pancakes with maple syrup, which would be a divine combination, or you can use it as I have as the topping for a simple summertime cake. The cake is made with the same combination of lemon and oregano but in a gentler way, it’s less upfront a flavour but the inclusion of these flavours helps it pair wonderfully with the compote. In the compote, the lemon is the bridge that connects the two ingredients but in the full recipe with the cake and the compote, the bridge is a white chocolate cream. The three elements together create a wonderful dessert that may seem unusual at first but which are a great way to play with different flavours and try something new. The compote recipe is below but if you would like the full recipe visit the Schwartz blog here.

This recipe and post was sponsored by Schwartz.

Blueberry Oregano Compote

350g blueberries
juice of 1 lemon
60g caster sugar
2 tsp Schwartz Oregano 
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 heaped tsp cornflour

To make the compote place half of the blueberries and all the lemon juice, sugar, vanilla and oregano into a small saucepan and cook over medium/low heat for 10-15 minutes until the berries have started to break down and they have released a lot of juice. Add the remaining berries and stir to combine. Place the cornflour into a small bowl and add a few spoonfuls of the blueberry juice and mix until smooth. Scrape the cornflour slurry into the pan and cook for a few minutes until the compote has thickened. This compote is pretty low on sugar, you could cook it longer to reduce and thicken the liquid but the berries will break down further and the compote will taste sweeter and the joy of this is that is bright and just sweet enough, the cornflour therefore helps to thicken the compote in place of the sugar. Pour the compote into bowl, cover with cling film and refrigerate until needed.

To use the compote I have paired it with a simple lemon and oregano cake with a white chocolate cream, for that recipe head over here.

Strawberry Granita and Philadelphia Style Vanilla Ice Cream

Since visiting Siciliy earlier in the year I regularly day dream about granita for breakfast, a common Sicilian way to start the day. When you think of the current heatwave we are going through it is totally understandable how a hot morning coffee might not be the most pleasant way to wake up but a cold refreshing espresso granita on the other hand, well that I can get behind. Whilst coffee is one of my go to flavours right now I am favouring bright fruity flavours and right now that means strawberries. I don’t know if our recent summers have had an effect on this years crops but English strawberries are tasting absolutely fantastic at the moment and I am crushing hard (as you can probably tell by my recent crop of recipes) and this recipe is a kind of cross country love letter to strawberries. The granita is Sicilian in style, less icy and more towards a sorbet and the ice cream is of the Philadelphia style so no eggs and minimal effort, it also leads to a cleaner more dairy forward flavour and the yolks don't have a chance to dull the flavour of the vanilla. But the combination of the granita and ice cream cant help but make me think of that classic British treat of strawberries and cream. If you're looking for that easy recipe to make this summer this might be the one. 

Strawberry Granita

450g strawberries, hulled and halved
100g caster sugar
juice of 1 lemon (or two limes)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

To make the granita add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and toss together. Set the bowl aside, allowing the fruit to macerate, for about 30-60 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved and the berries are sat in a bowl of ruby red strawberry juice. If you wanted a subtle mint flavour at the moment you could also set some mint into the bowl with the berries. 

Using a blender or food processor pulse the berries until smooth, then pass through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Pour the strawberry puree into a wide container that will fit into the freezer and allow to chill for about 4 hours. Every 30 minutes or so use a fork to break up the ice crystals, until you have a slightly icy, slightly slushy texture. At this point the granita is ready to serve.

Philadelphia Style Ice Cream

250ml double cream
500ml whole milk
2 vanilla bean pods (or vanilla bean paste)
150g caster sugar
4 tbsp milk powder

To make the ice cream add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and gently whisk together, you're not adding air you just want to encourage the milk powder and sugar to dissolve. Once everything is fully incorporated and the sugar has dissolved churn in an ice cream machine according to the manufactures instructions. If you don’t have an ice cream machine there are other ways, similar to the granita method, to make ice cream but the results wont be as good. I am a big fan of homemade ice cream and the small investment needed for the equipment will absolutely pay off over a summer (especially as basic models can be very cheap these days and generally do a decent job).

When the ice cream has the texture of soft serve scoop it into a suitable container, I use a loaf tin, and place into the freezer for about 4 hours or until firm but scoop-able. Bear in mind that Philadelphia style ice cream will not last as long as ones made with a custard so it needs eating within a few days.

To serve scoop some vanilla ice cream into small glasses and top with plenty of granita.