Okay, she's my only sister. Dearest by default. But sick nonetheless.
And she doesn't let me forget. I hear about the progress of her sickness. Every. Day. At least twice.
Why so long, you say? It must be serious. Oh contrare...the truth is this: she just refuses to take medicine. She believes in natural healing. Month long and counting healing. Personally, I think it's just a cold gone awry curable with a few Day Quils and Advil. She'll have you think it's much worse. Strep throat, she says. She's always been a bit of a drama queen.
Oops. Did I say that?
(Chuckles)
Just because I'm realistic about her diagnosis doesn't mean I'm completely heartless. I really do feel bad for her. Being sick is miserable. Especially when you can't taste food. When she told me this, I gasped. Not. Taste. Food. I'm not even hungry, she says. I'm just going to eat a piece of toast with butter because I need food.
The humanity. It was more than I could bear.
Since she refusing medical treatment and I can't ship chicken soup, I did the next best thing: I sent cookies. Known for their health benefits. From...umm...the butter.
Nicole requested chocolate chip cookies...Plain Jane that she is with food. Thud. Confession time. I make terrible chocolate chip cookies. Just terrible. My baking Waterloo of sorts. And honestly, but not to make excuses, I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate chip cookies. Salted white chocolate chip oatmeal? Yes! Nutella cookies? Mmhmm. Shortbreads? Sure. Thumbprints? Be still my grumbling tummy! Hazelnut brown butter? Oh yes, anything with brown butter. Oatmeal chocolate chip? Send them over! Peanut butter chocolate chip? Oh heck yeah.
But chocolate chip? Meh. Maybe if there's walnuts.
This doesn't mean I haven't attempted the chocolate chip cookie a time or two...or three...or seven. All of them failures. Thomas Keller? Fail. David Lebovitz? Fail. NY Times? That was just a waste of good chocolate. Neiman Marcus cookie? Doubletree cookie? Fail and fail. Dough refridgeration is over-rated. But, my main gripe with chocolate chippers is that the taste just falls flat. I taste chocolate. And I taste cookie. But not together.
Does this make me a bad baker? Maybe. But we all have our food opinions.
So I started coming up with chocolate chip cookie alternatives. But the pickings were slim. Nicole is a very picky eater. She just started eating green foods (and by green, I mean lettuce and actual vegetables) in college. And then I remembered this amazing cookie I had in Washington, D.C. last summer. It had oreo cookies in the cookie. I spied it at this cute little sandwich shop near Georgetown University. The sandwich was also tasty, but I was totally captivated by this oreo cookie cookie. Milk's favorite cookie in a cookie. Why hadn't I thought of this?
I had many of these "why hadn't I thought of this" moments while in D.C. Because this place is just full of good eating. Like this chili. Or this beyond cute cupcake shop that serves inventive and lucious cupcakes worth the price or this comforting cupcake shop...ahem...unlike a certain cupcake shop here. Or this fun pizza place. To be followed by a secret little beer place. Or how about the most amazing Spanish tapas. But not before having a glass of wine at a quaint wine bar. Because you're going to need to keep up your energy if you're going to be strolling around a huge BBQ festival or taking in the sights and even the sights at night. And of course, there was farmers marketing. But whatever you do, don't touch the raspberries. They take their berries very seriously.
I'm not saying that these oreo cookie cookies were the absolute highlight of my time there...I mean...look at all the other things I ate! But, I did make a mental note to try and re-create these when I got back home. But this still meant that I needed to find a chocolate chip cookie recipe.
And who else than Martha Stewart? She has a best-selling book all about cookies. And something called a skillet chocolate chip cookie. Not unlike a Pizookie, Martha's skillet cookie is round and cut into wedges. I read the reviews and it sounded like a real winner. And easy, too. I checked for dough refridgeration. None. Sold!
I swapped out the 2 cups of chocolate chippys for 2 cups of chopped oreos, and omg is this good. The cookie itself is fluffy and the oreos soften a bit when cooked. It's like eating cookies and cream ice cream in a cookie, but why not mix it into some soft serve? I haven't yet. But I predict it's only a matter of time.
Oreo Cookie Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart
Note: I made this two ways. First, in a Pam-ed 8" x 8" pan and most recently, I just rolled by the heaping Tablespoon. Personally, I like my cookies round as opposed to cubed, but really, either way is fabulous.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups Oreos, roughly chopped
Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; mix until they are fully incorporated. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in Oreos.
2. For the skillet version: Transfer dough to a 10-inch ovenproof skillet, and press to flatten, covering bottom of pan. Bake until edges are brown and top is golden, 40 to 45 minutes. Don't overbake; it will continue to cook a few minutes out of the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, 15 to 20 minutes. Cut into 8 wedges.
For the cookie version: Scoop dough by the heaping Tablespoon and roll the dough into a ball. Place on baking sheet, leaving some room for the cookies to spread. Bake until lightly golden brown, about 12- 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.
1 comment:
These sound so so delicious. I must try them out!
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