slow cookers

i have a lot of friends that are enamored with slow cooking/crock pots. something strikes me a bit odd about about food cooking allllllll day. i am very particular about food consistency, and picky about soup and other mushy vegetables, so i opted for a different kind of slow cooking– low temperature cookies!

i was looking for a recipe to include in my latest shipment of cookies out to friends & family, when i found something in my online recipe box that i had to accept the challenge of: “Felix K.’s ‘Don’t even try to say these aren’t the best you’ve ever eaten, because they are’ Chocolate Chip Cookies”. come on, really? best? ever? felix clearly underestimates how many chocolate chip cookies i have eaten. nevertheless, i like a good challenge, so into the oven, and subsequently into cellophane wrappers they went (okay, so a few fell into my belly). as you will note, these cookies cook at 300 degrees, as opposed to the typical 350 and 15-17 minutes rather than 10– because of this, they apparently don’t brown, which is great for aesthetics, but you have to be careful not to overcook, as they can dry out. if you take them out of the oven after the listed time (as long as they look relatively cooked), then leave them on the hot cookie sheet on top of the oven for the suggested 20 minutes, you wont run any risk of undercooked eggs, and you will have delightfully soft cookies! i will be honest, i didn’t leave them on the tray for 20 minutes…maybe 10 or 15 since they were plenty set, and i couldnt resist nice, warm, fresh-from-the-oven cookies. while they were plenty tasty, i am not sure i would say they are my favorite… however my friend erica did send me this review when she received her package: “I just had the best cookie of my entire life!!! I know I say this each time you bake something – but that choc. chip cookie may have been the best yet.” a few others also told me that i should add this cookie to my “to-sell” list. because of the overwhelming vanilla, i labeled them as ‘vanilla chocolate chip’ rather than just regular ‘chocolate chip’; if you aren’t a big fan of vanilla, use the regular kind, and cut it down to 2 tsp. so… i gotta give it to felix, he accomplished his goal!

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract (i used double strength madagascar bourbon vanilla for 3 of them)
• 1 (12 ounce) bag chocolate chips (if you are making them “sophisticated” with the double strength vanilla, i suggest dark chocolate)

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. Gently mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt with a fork in a bowl. Beat the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla with the last egg. Mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips; mixing just enough to evenly combine.
3. Divide the dough into 24 3-tablespoon-sized balls. Flatten the balls to about 1/4-inch thick onto a baking sheet.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are golden, 15 to 17 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet until the centers begin to set, about 20 minutes.