In Search of the Best-ever Chocolate Chip Cookie!!!

When I was a kid, Saturday mornings were often spent baking cookies, and more often than not, chocolate chip cookies was the favourite pick!! Nothing, I mean NOTHING was better than a homemade chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven!!! The aroma, the soft chewy chocolaty melt-in-your mouth awesomeness... yummmmmmm :)

Well, I haven't been a big chocolate chip cookie baker since then. Partly because I was always a bit discouraged that the awesome chewy texture didn't stay just right after the cookies cooled. But, since my triumph with making the best-ever chocolate brownies, I've decided to keep an eye out for a chocolate chip cookie recipe that looks promising.  And at last, I have found one that I am trying out today!

Nigella Lawson has a chocolate chip cookie recipe in her book titled Kitchen.  In it, she talks of wanting a chocolate chip cookie that has a bit of tender, fudgy chewiness, but an edge of crisp bite too.  Mmmmm, sounds good to me!  She then claims she's baked many a cookie in order to come up with a recipe that doesn't disappoint.  Okay, I'm convinced, I gotta try this!!!

******

Okay, here are the pics... I had to post them since I took the time to bake these and write this post - which was written before the cookies came out of the oven.

Unfortunately, I do not like the cookies one bit!!!  Not a bit... I do not like them in a box.  I do not like them with a fox.  I do not like them in a house.  I do not like them with a mouse.  I do not like them here or there.  I do not like them anywhere.  I do not like green eggs and ham.  I do not like them, Sam-I-am!

Okay, I got carried away.

*Sigh*

These are not too dry, nor are they too chewy and doughy.  They are however, CAKEY.  And I don't want a cake-cookie!!

Next to try... Martha Stewart.   Or... if anyone has a good chocolate chip recipe for me to try, send it my way!!!

Theme of the Week - EATING... FINALLY!!!

Will write something about this later but for now, here's the video...

My Happiness Complete

The sweet little Chievious has FOUR big sore looking lumps along her gums... and she's just beside herself with teething discomfort.  Needless to say, she's having a hard time and my hands are FULL!!  But despite this, as she sleeps in my arms, I can't help but meditating on my life and how very lucky I feel to have had the opportunity to have such a wonderful baby!!!  Of everything I've done in my life, all the adventures I've had, I can say that my happiness has never been as complete as it is now, in taking care of this sweet little soul.  I feel so very lucky!!

Runaway Baby!!!

This was taken a few nights ago... she's so funny!!!

Theme of the week - Talking and singing :)

Finally!!!  I've been waiting for sounds of baby babbling for months now!  The books say often babies start this around 5 months... Brenna is now 8 months and has decided she has some things to say. :)  She had said the typical "agoo" sounds at around 3 months, but then went to making sounds in her throat instead of using her mouth for consonants and syllables.  Her throat noises are cute too... it took me a while but I finally learned how to make them with her!  But I have to admit I was getting a little concerned that her lack of babbling might indicate a hearing problem.  Well now she has the whole gamit... gaga, baba, wawa, and how can I leave out, mama!

On the mama note, she's been saying mammmm for quite a while now (it was mentioned in my post from back in October), but we really weren't sure if she knew what she was saying or if the sounds were just a coincidence.  Well there's no doubt now!  She's continued making that one sound, only when she's tired and wants to feed.  Now it's expanded to a maammmaaammmaammm  anytime she wants my attention, ...and is very cute I might add! :)

Enjoy the video...

Theme of the week - Standing!

Yes, pulling herself up and standing, all over the place!!  No it's not good enough to just sit and play, or get up on knees, if there is room at all, it's on the feet!  At her potty, against the couch, to look in boxes, and even to give me kisses, she's getting on her feet as much as she possibly can, and I can't help but thinking, isn't this a little soon?  After all, she's my little baby... supposed to be laying helplessly on the floor cooing and playing with her feet!!

Oh, and I almost forgot, along with standing, she is climbing everything she can!  Up the first stair, onto the mattress, she climbed onto her change table, and even onto the upside down toy box at Gramma and Grampa's house, so of course now that is not her toy box anymore for a while so that she doesn't hurt herself!
And... she fell down a stair!!  I was blow drying my hair and hadn't realized she was going up, (it's one stair and then a platform before turning a corner to go up more stairs).  Well suddenly I heard a thump and a cry, and though she wasn't hurt, she was spooked, and frozen in place to make sure I could see what had happened!!  The look on her face was heartbreakingly urgent, but once picked up, she decided she was okay.  Okay enough in fact, to try going up the stair again!  So it is now blocked with boxes!!

Best-ever Chocolate Brownies!!!

I have pretty high standards when it comes to brownies.  It's gotta be good quality chocolate taste, the right texture, not too cakey, not too dry, a good amount of moist on the inside yet chewy on the outside, especially on the edges, and a shiny crackly top!!!

When I saw the ad for this recipe and they claimed it was the best-ever brownie, I had to try it!  And yes, I have to agree, this brownie met every one of my expectations, hopes, dreams and desires that I could possibly have in a brownie!!!

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts

Prep 20 min.  Total 4 hours 50 min (includes cooling time)

Makes 16.

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
Aluminum foil
10 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp water

1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp (generous) salt
2 large eggs, chilled
1/3 cup + 1tbsp unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup walnut pieces

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325F.
Line 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang.  Coat foil with nonstick spray.  (Don't skip the foil if you want to get these out of the pan in intact pieces!)
Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 tsp water, vanilla, and salt.  Stir to blend.
Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot).
Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigourously to blend after each addition.  When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended.  Beat vigourously 60 strokes.  (The beating makes the gluten in the flour take on that awesome chewy consistency!) Stir in nuts.  Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes.  Cool in pan on rack.  Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan.   Cut into 4 strips.  cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies.
DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead.  Store airtight at room temperature.


Confession: I ate SEVEN out of 16 pieces!!  Bad, bad, bad.... so today I sent the rest of the batch for the guys at Nathan's work.  I also fed 2 pieces to the Cogeco techy who was installing our cable and internet.  He says Cogeco overworks the techies to the point that they have to cut corners with the customers... but I think the brownies helped him to an excellent job!!  Guess I'll have to make brownies everytime we need a techy over!!