Thursday, March 17, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cookies...Tate's Bake Shop Recipe

I've been aware of these thin chocolate chip cookies for quite a while and I actually remember making them over a year ago with...not such good results. But I decided to give them another chance. There are so many great reviews of them and everyone I spoke to who has tried them says they're delicious so I today I baked up a half batch.

I conducted my own little experiment with them because of the results of the last time I made them. I tried my best to get exact measurements and weights, so here's what I did.

First, keeping in mind that I halved the original recipe I'm giving you below, I weighed out one cup of flour ( I used King Arthur AP Flour) at 4.6 oz. ( yes I gave it an extra 0.01 ounce!), then I made sure I firmly packed down the dark brown sugar. I used my egg at room temperature and last, I followed the directions for making the cookies exactly.

This means I mixed til just combined when the recipe said to do so.
And I folded in the chips, rather than stirring with the paddle attachment.
And I also was aware to not overmix the dough!

I even experimented with baking a couple first, two on parchment paper and two on a greased baking sheet, with the same end results.

One thing I changed was the baking time. I set the timer to 10 minutes, then checked them but they looked like they needed maybe another minute. So I let them bake another minute...then added 30 seconds and then they looked done, golden along the edges and just slightly moist in the center.

So my baking time turned out to be 11 1/2 minutes but your oven may be different so I suggest experiment with a couple cookies first.
This photo below shows two different batches. The one on the left is the batch I made just after making the dough. And the one on the right is baked 30 minutes after making the dough. The second batch came out thinner. Maybe because, kept out at room temp. the butter softened them more causing them to spread more? I weighed the dough for all of them so they'd all be the same size. For 3" finished size cookies, I weighed the dough at 1.0 oz.

So, that's my experiment for the day!
I'm usually never this exact but I was determined to get it right so I can agree with the reviews on this cookie.

The recipe is very close to many chocolate chip cookies I've made, but just a few changes in ingredients seem to make a big difference. The dark brown sugar in these gave the cookies a wonderful deep flavor and the chip to cookie dough ratio is perfect. You get a lot of chips in every bite. I think I found my new favorite thin chocolate chip cookie...well, maybe til another one comes along!


So begin with whisking the dry ingredients in a small bowl.


Then in a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars, then add the water and vanilla, mixing til just combined.
Add the eggs and mix lightly.
Stir in the flour mixture. Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. with a rubber spatula.

Fold in the chips using a rubber spatula.

Here's where I tested using parchment paper or a greased pan. The results were the same.
Although they didn't really stick much on the greased pan side, they did require just a little coaxing with the spatula so I would suggest using the parchment.

Weighing each at 1.0 oz. resulted in a 3"finished cookie.


Chocolate Chip Cookies ( from Tate's Bake Shop)

(This is a thin chocolate chip cookie) Makes 4 1/2 dozen.
2 cups AP flour ( see my weight above)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt ( I used regular table salt)
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs, room temp.
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
******************************
Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or grease sheet.
1. Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugars til combined,2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add the water and vanilla and mix til just combined.
4. Add the eggs and mix lightly.
5. Stir in the flour mixture til just combined.
6. Fold in the chips.
7. Scoop 2 tablespoonfuls of dough onto the baking sheet, spacing 3" apart.
8. Bake 12 minutes, checking after 10 minutes, til edges are brown and centers just set.
9. Remove to wire rack to cool.*
*Update- When I left some cookies (others...not these) on the baking sheet, (forgetting about them, actually!), and I noticed that because they were allowed to cool completely on the baking sheet, they became crunchier. Next time I make these, I'm going to try that and see if these come out with more crunch.*




4 comments:

  1. I tried to make a comment last night, but my browser went nuts :).
    I'm always looking for a new CC cookie recipe, my current goto is Dorie Greenspan's with an added insane amount of chocolate chips (that makes them spread paper thin :)... oh so good :)). This recipe is nearly identical except for the use of dark brown sugar over light.
    I'm going to say that most definitely the extra spread in the cookies was a result of the dough warming. It's something I constantly battle with since my kitchen is small, and areas near the oven get quite warm. And thanks for doing the experiment :), it's something I've wanted to do myself since cookies can be so temperamental, but am too lazy :).

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  2. Adam,
    I'll have to try the Dorie Greenspan recipe, too. I love her recipes!
    The only thing I noticed with these cookies is that Tate's is known for crunchy chocolate chip cookies and these were not crunchy but more on the soft side. I'll have to research more to find out how to get them crunchier, other than using shortening...but I'm sure she doesn't put shortening in her cookies?! Or maybe she does bake them longer.
    Just a quick trivia fact on Tate's Bake Shop that I read last night after reading the interview with her from the show "How I Made My Millions". Her yearly sales are $10 million!! WOW!!

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  3. I'm actually really surprised that these are supposed to be crunchy cookies. The dark brown sugar alone is enough to make them chewy from all the extra moisture in the molasses. As far as I know white sugar only is one of the keys to a crunchier cookie, but also egg whites instead of egg yolks, and not creaming the butter, since both of these can add extra leavening to the cookie (which is why you do it for cakes).
    I've actually never really known about Tate's, I've heard it referenced, but being Canadian I'm not really familiar with the franchise :).

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  4. Kathleen King (still her last name?) uses salted butter in her cookie recipes. I read your updated post on this recipe and I'm going to try baking the cookies twice.

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