The best thing happened last weekend: we had a teenage guest who loved to bake and she got to make the most of the kitchen here.
And then something topped even that: she brought me a bag that had not one or two cookies, but more!
I opened the bag and ate one and was surprised. It was really good. It’s not that I didn’t believe this young woman could make a good cookie, it’s just that I’ve had so many chocolate cookies in my life that they’ve become…knowable. And this cookie was…different. Bella went back to the house and I went back to mine, and I sat down with the bag and got down to work. Four cookies later, I knew I was in trouble.
You understand that by getting down to work I meant I got down to eating cookies.
I mean, come on. Cookies that are buttery and freshly baked and have some kind of crazy yummy taste that you can’t quite put your finger on?
I put the rest in the freezer as if that would really help me gain any kind of self-control. A frozen delicious chocolate chip cookie is still delicious. It’s just cold. So they didn’t last long.
Anyway. Bella comes from a family who loves to cook, to bake, to eat, and so what began as the regular Toll House Cookie recipe became something else in her hands. Something, I would argue, noticeably better. Can that much change be wrought by adding flour at a different time and a couple of other subtle changes? I don’t know.
There is no way I am making this recipe because I have zero self-control when it comes to cookie batter and warm chocolate chip cookies, and so I need you to make them and let me know what you think.
Here is Isabella Young’s recipe for the Official Spirit Hill Chocolate Chip Cookie:
2 ¼ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Two eggs
1 cup of butter, melted
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cups of granulated sugar
2 cups chocolate chips
In a medium size bowl, melt butter in 10 second intervals until liquid (don’t boil the butter). Stir the two sugars (brown and white) into the bowl with the melted butter. It may look like the butter has separated from the mixture, but continue to stir vigorously until butter and sugar mixture are well combined. Add vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mix and stir. In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Pour dry ingredients into the wet mixture and add both eggs. Mix until combined and add chocolate chips. Put the dough into the fridge for at least 25 minutes or more. Form dough into 32 gram balls each onto a nonstick baking sheet (baking stone preferred) and cook at 375º F for 9-11 minutes or until crisp and golden brown around the edges. (Oven temperatures may vary, so depending on your oven it may take less or more time to bake.)
Eat.
Thank you, Bella. Please come back soon.
The photo is of Bella and her lucky mom.