Friday, March 22, 2013

Tuesdays With Dorie and Julia: Mocha Chocolate Chips

YUM!!!
 Instead of Tuesdays with Julia and Dorie, I’m late and will call this Friday night with Julia and Dorie using Rick Katz’ Mocha Chocolate Chip cookies.

This is a crazy time of year for me plus we have lots of family events over the next 2 weeks and a new granddaughter due now...I run every time my phone rings,  Usually I’m not a good phone answerer but now I hear every ring or text "ding" hoping for some good news.  So, I’m late with this post, but doing my best.

Because I’m a cookie monster, I did not want to skip this recipe, however I did have some issues with sentences like “leave at least 2 inches of space between each mound of dough so that the cookies have room to spread.”  And I had the advantage of looking through several of your posts, and I was not impressed with many that I saw.  Sorry.  Of course, I did see many that looked great, but a simple recipe for all us experienced bakers should have turned out very well for most everyone.

I do love apricots and wanted that addition.  I am not a coffee person, so I left out that flavor.  I do not care for cookies that spread so much during baking especially after the dough has chilled for many hours.  And I do not like to chill a simple cookie dough unless that step has a good purpose such as rolling out a firm buttery dough.  In very hot Arizona my best cookies do not have hanging out time, even in the fridge.  My kitchen is often 86-88^ with the oven on during our hot summers which last for several months.  Butter melts and chocolate melts quickly.  Doughs need adjusting.  With all the spreading these cookies do, they would be impossible in AZ.

Many of you posted that you liked the white chocolate with the apricots and that made good sense.  And I had another item to try.  Instead of a great dark chocolate, the “best chocolate you can,” I wanted to try the new Costco chocolate chips.  A friend said she had tried them and likes them and asked my opinion.  Since I’ve not used them, I have no opinion, but cringe a little at using a Costco chocolate.  But Hubby went to Costco for cases of copy machine paper for the office, and he brought me Costco chocolate chips which he knew I “needed.”  It was a surprise, like bringing me flowers.  (Because I tried a new chocolate chip and also used white chips rather than chunking up white chocolate.)
                                               
To combat what I perceive as extra spreading for this baking dough I added 1 cup of quick oats.  I like oats in many cookies and I also think they go well with apricots and chocolate chips.  To color my dough and give a flavor boost I added 2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder.  I baked the cookies for 11 minutes and I’m very happy with my changes.  These are great cookies!  And no fridge time and reasonable spreading.  And I like the Costco chips for day-to-day baking.  My warm cookies oozed with that lovely chocolate and I have been fixed with happiness for the night.

Thanks to your many posts which I read through before baking this recipe.  You all inspired me to make this recipe my own.

Have a great week
!

6 comments:

  1. Great looking cookies! I love the idea of using the oats. Yours look more like cookies than flat discs that mine turned into !

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  2. Kris, I like the idea of adding lovely oats, white chocolate and cocoa powder to your cookies, they look wonderful! No unnecessary spreading, perfect, just the way I like my cookies!
    Have a good Sunday!

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  3. Oatmeal in cookies is always a good idea :-)

    Personally, I never follow the two inch rule... There is no way I can justify having that few cookies on a sheet

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  4. What a great idea to add oats, Kris. I love the chunky look of your cookies and I like that you subbed cocoa powder for the instant espresso. I am going to have to check out those chocolate chips the next time I go to Costco.

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  5. Yum!!! is right-love the oats, maybe makes the cookies a little healthier!?

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  6. Your cookies look fabulous! I was just saying I need to make a batch of oatmeal cookies. I do love them and never remember to do so. Good idea to add them to this recipe; I'm sure it made them that much better.

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