Chocolate chip cookies ~ Happy Thanksgiving !

Happy Thanksgiving everyone ! 

What are you doing this Thanksgiving? Well, we are taking it slow this year. Last year , was my first Thanksgiving in US and so my husband wanted me to experience the so called Thanksgiving shopping. We went all crazy planning and making strategies of how to go about it. We didn't have much to shop, but ya we stood in queue outside the stores in the cold weather(luckily it was not snowing), carried snacks along with us to munch about while we waited in queue(this was more exciting for me as I planned and prepared the snacks a day in advance, something that could be easy to have rather making a mess), etc.

We covered almost all stores throughout night and finally arrived for the final 5:30 am sale. It was for a TV that Jacob had been looking for. We got it and it was so fun to see him grin like a kid all the way till home. I slept off the moment I stepped into our house but he stayed awake setting up the TV. When I got up I found him starring blankly at me. All that happy grin was gone. He sadly said that the piece we got was defective :(. Ya I know, it is worse than things running out of stock.

During this time of the year, we tend to focus mainly on the shopping and the fun of having Thanksgiving dinner, etc. but sometimes forget to thank God or people for the good that they have done to us in the past year. This Thanksgiving, for all people on this blogosphere, I am thankful to each one of you for all the support, encouragement and help provided, in attaining the 1 year milestone of Palaharam. So, here is the virtual thanksgiving treat from us :).

Ingredients

1. 1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2. 2/3 cup of granulated sugar
3. 2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4. 2 large eggs
5. 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
6. 2 1/3 cups of all purpose flour
7. 1 tsp of baking soda
8. 1 tsp of kosher salt
9. 1 bag (12 oz) semisweet chocolate

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C.
• Line the baking trays with parchment paper and keep it aside.
• In a bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed untill fluffy. Add both the sugars and beat untill the mixture is well combined.
• Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat untill blended.
• Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into the bowl and mix on low speed just untill blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.
• Drop a tablespoon full of dough onto the pans spacing them slightly apart because these cookies spread out to a larger area.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes or untill the cookies are golden brown around the edges.
• Remove it from the oven and let the cookies cool on the pans for 5 minutes and then transfer them on to a wired rack to cool completely. 

Tips

1. This recipe makes almost 3 dozen cookies. Though these cookies can be stored for some time, I would recommend to store it for 3-4 days. They remain chewy and taste better only for couple of days. You could double or half this recipe as per your requirement. 
2. Do not go by adding baking powder or substituting it for baking soda. I used to do that and the cookies used to get the dome shape and get cracked on the top. Using baking soda is the best way to get the cookies in these shapes (as in the pictures).
3. Do not over bake them if you want a chewy cookie. Bake it only till the edges are golden brown. When you remove it from the oven and let it stand on the same pan for 5 minutes they continue to cook and would deliver perfect cookies.

Recipe courtesy : Adapted from the book 'Home Baked Comfort' by Kim Laidlaw.