Last week, Richmond News ran an incomplete version of this recipe. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Here is the complete recipe, just in time to make for the big guy who may like a little refreshment on his travels delivering gifts.
I recently came across the cookbook Milk & Cookies: 89 Heirloom Recipes from New York’s Milk & Cookies Bakery, by Tina-Marie Casaceli.
What I like about Casaceli’s book is that five of her eight chapters begin with a base dough, to which different ingredients can be added to yield a variety of cookies.
Here is an adaptation of Casaceli’s Vanilla Base Dough and Milk & Cookies Bakery Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Vanilla Base Dough
Yield: about 3 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups (7 1/2 oz) old-fashioned rolled oats;
2 cups (8 oz) all-purpose flour;
1 tsp baking powder;
1 tsp baking soda;
1/2 tsp salt;
1 1/2 cups (12 oz) unsalted butter, softened;
1 cup (7 oz) sugar;
1 cup (7 oz) light brown sugar;
2 large eggs, at room temperature;
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Place oats in bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade; process until finely ground. Transfer oats to a large mixing bowl. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and stir. Set aside.
3. Place butter in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low speed to soften. Increase speed to medium and beat until butter is light and creamy, about three minutes. With the motor running, gradually add the sugar and then the brown sugar, beating until light and creamy, about another five minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat to incorporate fully, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix to blend.
5. Slowly add the reserved dry mixture and beat. Mix the dough until ingredients are JUST blended together; do NOT overwork the dough. (If you do not want chocolate in the cookies, proceed with step 2 in the recipe below.)
Milk & Cookies Bakery Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vanilla Base Dough (see recipe above)
2 cups (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chunks;
2 cups (4 oz) bittersweet chocolate curls or shavings.
Directions:
1. Add the chocolate chunks and curls/shavings to the Vanilla Base Dough, mixing only until chocolate is evenly distributed.
2. Using a small ice-cream scoop that is 1 3/4” in diameter, form uniform mounds of dough. Place the mounds on the prepared baking sheets about 2” apart.
3. Bake cookies until lightly browned around the edges and set in the centre. This will take about 13-15 minutes, depending on the size of the ice cream scoop. Cookies should be chewy in the centre, so be careful to not over bake.
4. Remove from oven and let cool.
5. Cookies may be stored in a covered container at room temperature for up to a week.
