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| The WaPo article, reprinted in the Daily Progress, that started it all. Check out the date! |
The author decries her lost ability to make chocolate chip cookies, which was not restored until she received a recipe and three secrets from Katherine Redford, a Texas pastry chef. The three secrets: add some toasted oatmeal, fold in the dry ingredients by hand, and bake at a lower heat than the original Toll House chocolate chip cookies. There is a fourth secret, not identified as such in the article: use some milk chocolate chips in addition to the standard quantity of semi-sweet chips (or chunks in this recipe). That results in a third more chocolate chips, which is never a bad thing. You've loved these cookies so much that some of you have even asked for them to be served on your birthday instead of cake.
But in the past year I, like many others, was seduced by Kim Boyce's Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies. And they are excellent cookies. The use of 100% whole wheat flour gives them a certain indescribable quality—a je ne sais quoi, since you're all would-be French speakers—that is very attractive. But in the end, they're just not quite up to the level of our old standbys. And so, after all of your subtle hints ("are we ever going to have the other type of chocolate chip cookies again?"), we have come back where we belong, to Katherine Redford. (Sorry, Jacques Torres.)
If you compare this recipe to the original Toll House recipe, there is not much difference. It's basically a half recipe, with the addition of the toasted oatmeal and some milk chocolate chips and a little change in technique. But it's that ability to make just a small tweak that turns something familiar into something so much more that ultimately brands this recipe as genius. Make that Super Genius.
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| A mountain of Katherine Redford's, with a friend on the summit |
Katherine Redford's Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Katherine Redford via The Washington Post
Time: 35 minutes (more if you refrigerate the dough)
I use either Quaker Quick 1-Minute Oats or Bob's Red Mill Quick Cooking Rolled Oats.
45 grams (½ cup) quick-cooking oats (see note)
135 grams (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
113 grams (4 ounces/1 stick) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
75 grams (⅜ cup) light brown sugar
60 grams (scant ⅓ cup) granulated white sugar
1 large egg (~57 grams in the shell)
1 teaspoon (5 grams) vanilla extract
170 grams (1 cup) dark, semi-sweet chocolate chunks
57 grams (⅓ cup) milk chocolate chips or chunks
50 grams (scant ½ cup) toasted pecan pieces, optional
1. Place racks in the middle two positions of the oven; heat to 325 degrees. Line two 18-by-13-inch half-sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. Place the oats in a small, light-colored pan (a 9-by-6½-inch eighth-sheet pan is perfect) and toast them in the warming oven until they are fragrant and just beginning to change color, 5 to 7 minutes. Watch closely as they burn easily. Transfer to a small plate to cool.
3. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl. Stir in the oats when they're cool.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and both sugars together on medium speed (4 on our KitchenAid) until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low speed until smooth. If the mixture looks curdled, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula and beat again; it will smooth out.
5. On the mixer’s lowest speed (“Stir” on our KitchenAid), or by hand, slowly fold in the oat-flour mixture until just incorporated. Do not overmix. Lightly fold in both chocolates and the pecans, if using. Scoop onto the baking sheets. If you use a #40 scoop (1½ tablespoons) like I do, you should get about 20 cookies. If you have time, refrigerate the scooped dough balls for at least an hour; they'll spread less when you bake them.
6. Bake until an even light golden color, about 15 to 20 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets, top to bottom and front to back, halfway through baking. If the edges of the cookies start to brown before the centers, the oven is too hot. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool for a few minutes in the pans, then transfer to racks to cool.
45 grams (½ cup) quick-cooking oats (see note)
135 grams (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
113 grams (4 ounces/1 stick) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
75 grams (⅜ cup) light brown sugar
60 grams (scant ⅓ cup) granulated white sugar
1 large egg (~57 grams in the shell)
1 teaspoon (5 grams) vanilla extract
170 grams (1 cup) dark, semi-sweet chocolate chunks
57 grams (⅓ cup) milk chocolate chips or chunks
50 grams (scant ½ cup) toasted pecan pieces, optional
1. Place racks in the middle two positions of the oven; heat to 325 degrees. Line two 18-by-13-inch half-sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. Place the oats in a small, light-colored pan (a 9-by-6½-inch eighth-sheet pan is perfect) and toast them in the warming oven until they are fragrant and just beginning to change color, 5 to 7 minutes. Watch closely as they burn easily. Transfer to a small plate to cool.
3. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl. Stir in the oats when they're cool.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and both sugars together on medium speed (4 on our KitchenAid) until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low speed until smooth. If the mixture looks curdled, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula and beat again; it will smooth out.
5. On the mixer’s lowest speed (“Stir” on our KitchenAid), or by hand, slowly fold in the oat-flour mixture until just incorporated. Do not overmix. Lightly fold in both chocolates and the pecans, if using. Scoop onto the baking sheets. If you use a #40 scoop (1½ tablespoons) like I do, you should get about 20 cookies. If you have time, refrigerate the scooped dough balls for at least an hour; they'll spread less when you bake them.
6. Bake until an even light golden color, about 15 to 20 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets, top to bottom and front to back, halfway through baking. If the edges of the cookies start to brown before the centers, the oven is too hot. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool for a few minutes in the pans, then transfer to racks to cool.
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