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22 May 2009

The Chewy

We don't make chocolate chip cookies at our house; we make The Chewy. The Chewy is perhaps the most palette pleasing cookie of all time, and it's the only chocolate chip cookie recipe I use. No other recipe can compare. The Chewy is an Alton Brown recipe; and in the Good Eats episode in which it appears, Alton provides the viewers with three chocolate chip cookie variations depending on personal taste. The Thin, The Puffy, and The Chewy were all featured in the episode. He presented The Chewy last, and once I saw him make them, I knew this was the recipe I wanted to try.

I like my cookies soft and chewy, so this is the recipe for me. The slightly browned crispy edges leading into warm, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth center is exactly what I want in a cookie, and The Chewy delivers in all respects. I have taken The Chewy to many work and family functions and they have always been a huge hit. I don't know how many times I've printed the recipe for other people.

When making The Chewy just to enjoy at home, instead of baking them all at once, I bake them in batches of six and freeze the rest of the dough. I use a disher to scoop the dough out in cookie size portions and freeze in plastic wrap in batches of six. That way, I can have fresh baked cookies whenever I want them without doing all the work. Though they keep fresh several days after baking, there is nothing like a cookie fresh from the oven.

Also, there is no reason to only limit The Chewy to chocolate chips. I have made them with crushed Heath bars and M&Ms. Angela really enjoys adding a few Reese's Big Cups to the batter. I have also added some of my homemade peanut butter to the mix, but that made them a little too rich for my liking. The Chewy has been a staple at our household for several years, and if you're looking for something to take to that Memorial Day cookout you may be going to, The Chewy will not disappoint.

Speaking of Memorial Day, I hope you all have a safe and wonderful holiday weekend! I'm looking forward to a leisurely three days off with a couple of cookouts and volleyball highlighting the agenda. I'm hoping to squeeze in a nice bike ride, too. It's shaping up to be a nice weekend in our neck of the woods.

3 comments:

  1. Thought I posted a comment earlier, must have messed something up... too early in the morning for me ;)

    Anyway, the Chewies are my standard chocolate chip cookie! THey were one of the first recipes I tried from AB. It convinced me of his genius ;)

    I've made them with peanut butter and peanut butter chips, good! And with milk chocolate chips and macadamia nuts, awesome!

    Have a great holiday weekend!

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  2. Ohh! Peanut butter chips...I'll have to try that. Thanks!

    I can't think of the first AB recipe I tried. I'll have to go through my recipes and see if something can trigger my memory.

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  3. I have to tell you a secret: Daniel doesn't like cookies! (or so he says, but I remember him eating five of your Snickerdoodles at one sitting). For this reason I've been putting off attempting the Chewy. How can I eat all these yummy cookies by myself without them going stale? And how would I fit into my clothes afterwords? But, this freezing idea has given me a new option! This is great.

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