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Have you ever made cookies with browned butter? Well I just tried for the first time and I'm thinking I'd rather just use room-temp-softened butter. I'm not sure if this is what caused my cookies to come out biscotti-texture-like but they were not as soft as I wanted. Browning butter is so easy, just wondering if that was the problem...
I made my own version of Joy the Baker's "Brown Butter Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies" yesterday on my lunch break while we enjoyed the Blizzard of 2013...NOT. What are those weather people THINKING? Anyways...
The idea of white chocolate and almond joys popped into my head while I was thinking up a cookie recipe to concoct with the coconut and sliced almonds I had in my overflowing collection of baking ingredients at home. Immediately, someone thinks of an Almond Joy. WHO WOULDN'T? It's like the best chocolate candy ever...well...it's up there on my list...and for someone who doesn't eat lots of chocolate...that's pretty high up there.
I don't even like white chocolate. Or dark chocolate. But I like chocolate chip cookies made with semi-sweet chocolate chips. Weird. Basically, I like baking with semi-sweet chocolate but I decided to go with the Baker's white chocolate baking squares that I found in my drawer. So...almonds, white chocolate, coconut...WHITE CHOCOLATE ALMOND JOYS!
Joy's original ingredients were as followed:
1 c. butter, melted and browned
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 c. flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2-3/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/4 c. toasted coconut (unsweetened or sweetened)
1 c. dark chocolate chunks
What I changed: Oh I browned the butter alright...almost browned it TOO much but caught it JUST in time! I actually reduced the white sugar to 3/4 c. because 2 cups of sugar altogether seemed like entirely way too much sugar. I also substituted ALMOND extract for vanilla and reduced the amount to 1/2 tbsp (almond extract is super strong...this was the PERFECT amount in these cookies). I used 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 c. UN-TOASTED sweetened coconut, 1 c. sliced almonds in place of the dark chocolate chunks, and 3 oz. of white chocolate baking squares.
What worked awesomely: The almond extract. I LOVE the flavor of pure almond extract. Don't get ANY of that imitation stuff. NOT ANY FLAVOR. Don't even think about getting imitation vanilla extract. As much as any extract costs, please go with the good stuff. The pure stuff. No one likes cookies that lie :)
The almonds also worked well. They gave the cookie that extra crunch which, if you like nuts, is tasty.
Not sure what went wrong...which made the cookies to turn out hard. The dough was VERY thick which Joy mentioned was supposed to happen...but after looking at her pictures, my dough looked even THICKER. Now...cookie dough is supposed to be relatively thick. But I don't think this was normal...I think the almonds and the coconut also made the dough thicker and more crumbly. Maybe I over-baked?? None of them came out dark in color though...Hmmm...
Overall the flavor is divine--I highly recommend purchasing and using almond extract. PURE. kthx :)
Random Tip of the Day: When your cookies (whatever flavor) come out of the oven, instead of placing them onto a cooling rack, let them cool in the pans for just a few minutes and then transfer them directly to your cookie jar or Tupperware. This keeps them nice and soft! This technique works with all my other cookies...don't know what happened with this recipe :(
Thanks Mom for that tip growing up!!
Cheers!
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