Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe, Rambles…and Some Pretty Pictures Too!

*Format unabashedly appropriated from my heroine, The Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond). To see the master at work visit www.thepioneerwoman.com.

Until The Clear Creek Group was formed, I had never baked a cookie in my life.

Yes, even with all those kids and grandkids. It’s true.

So it is as an authentic labor of love that I bake fresh, warm cookies. And then – to wash these decadent chewies down in the summer – I mix up virgin pomegranate Bellinis as well. With a garnish of mint and lime, the Bellini is as crisp and cooling as the clear mountain air. I leave the cookies on the counter and the pitcher of Bellinis chilling in the fridge.

But the Bellini recipe is for another blog, as is the Winter Orange Wassail that fills the nose with apple-, orange- and cinnamon-scented steam on a frosty day. (Do you recognize a plug when you hear it??)

I am proud to say that our guests love these cookies. The recipe was handed down through our partner Morgan’s family and then passed on to me.  It is a recipe I am honored to make.

The technique is as much a part of the recipe as is the quality of the ingredients. And in this case, size matters!

I feel extra happy when I use local eggs or butter; and always, always Guittard Milk Chocolate Chips.

Now, here comes a confession. This summer I took some time off, and cookies were made by a local breakfast and lunch haunt, e.leaven, just off the town square. Even so, they were baked with love and always with gratitude – and those are ingredients that you must never leave out when making these little delights.

Here I am, waiting in the Salt Lake City airport, writing myself into a craving for Bellinis and homemade cookies – hard to come by in these parts!  We’re heading off to Houston and 110 degrees. (Baking cookies probably goes quite quickly there – scant oven pre-heating time.)

Thankfully this will be a short trip, and we will return to our mountain paradise tomorrow.

Make these cookies for a friend, your family or the start of college football season. . . War Eagle!

With love,

Betsy

Here we go! Start with a cup of extra fine baker’s sugar.

Then one cup of brown sugar, firmly packed of course!

…

Two sticks of softened, unsalted, organic butter: try to get it all in the mixer!

Isn’t this pretty? You will need two of ‘em.

Crack them in a separate bowl just in case one is not so good.

Oh, this is lovely!!!

Now: one tablespoon of Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract. Don’t skimp on this ingredient and buy the store brand, but adjust the taste as you like; this is just what I do.

This is goodness in a bowl.

Put your mixer on 2 and mix until blended.

Scrape the bowl and blend on 2 for 45 seconds.

Now, here is the fun part: move speed to 4.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of baking SODA and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.

Remember the fun part? Add 3 cups of organic all purpose flour.

VERY SLOWLY!

Next: two (not one!) bags of Guittard Milk Chocolate Chips.

Yup, goodness!! I am tempted to stop right here!

Lay out plastic wrap and form a log with the dough.

Roll it . . .

. . .

Make sure no dough escapes . . .

Let it chill for a few hours or, if you want, freeze it.

Large, generous handfuls. This recipe will make between 20 and 24 cookies depending on how much dough you eat and how large the cookies are. Messy mounds are the best, and the larger the better!

Convection/bake at 410 degrees F for 6 minutes. ‘Course you remembered to preheat the oven, didn’t you?

Pop ‘em in!

There you have it! Cookies in the Tetons, made with love!

Photos © Catherine Coe 2011.