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01/21/2000 Archived Entry: "Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies"

This is the recipe I got from listener Elinor Geller before Christmas and that I gave on the radio just after New Year. She brought them to me at a book signing and I loved them because they are really, really crisp. And of course delicious beyond the usual chocolate chip cookie. A small measure of maple or corn syrup gives them that extra crispness – a sort of candied effect. I also love the flavor and texture you get from the technique of toasting the nuts, then tossing them in butter while they’re still hot. Besides that it is fun to hear the nuts sizzle, the nuts remain crisp in the baked cookies and have a fabulously buttery flavor – naturally.

Elinor says her family likes the cookies baked slightly dark. I tried them that way and, as much as I can’t keep my hands off them any which way, I find they have more vanilla flavor when the edges are just turning brown and the centers are still a little light. Try pulling them out at different degrees of doneness, as I did, to see which you like best.

By the way, although I made them as written below (using corn syrup), Elinor says you can use all light brown sugar, part dark brown and white, or even all dark brown sugar.

Thin, Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 36 to 40

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (I suppose you can use hazelnuts, too)
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup or light corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup (1 6-ounce package) semisweet or milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons milk

On a large baking sheet, roast the nuts for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from the oven. Immediately turn the nuts into a small mixing bowl and immediately stir in the first 2 tablespoons butter.

Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using a hand held electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

Beat in the maple or corn syrup, then the milk, then the vanilla.

On low speed, gradually beat in the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl once with a rubber spatula.

Add the nuts and chips and, using the rubber spatula or a wooden spoon, mix until thoroughly incorporated.

Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. (I used baking parchment instead.)

Drop slightly heaping tablespoons of dough about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies have browned lightly and the centers are anywhere from pale to beginning to color.

Carefully transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. They will still be soft at this point and will become crisp as they cool.

Store in a jar or tin.