The only chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need

A few weeks ago on a sunny, gorgeous fall afternoon, my work was done and Davis was still at school. I decided to head to the kitchen and bake chocolate chip cookies to surprise him with when I picked him up at school.  I love baking but in particular, I love baking in my kitchen on a sunny day with the windows open.

It seemed like such a luxury to whip up a batch of cookies in the middle of the day and I savored that time in the kitchen.  I also thought about how it's taken a while to find a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I wanted to make again and again but finally, I've found it.

These cookies are crisp around the outside but soft and chewy on the inside. Perfection. They can seem a little flat but when you take a bite, you know you've found cookie bliss.

Davis was quite happy when I greeted him after school with warm-out-of-the-oven cookies and my reward -- in addition to a cookie -- was seeing his happy face.  As I noted in a previous post, Davis' tree nut allergy complicates food a bit, but particularly when it comes to cookies. We can't grab a cookie at the local bakery after school as a treat like we used to so this was a nice way to bring him a treat that was safe for him.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Directions

**Please note, I find I need to bake the cookies longer than 8-10 minutes as recommended in the recipe. Watch the cookies carefully and add time by the minute if they don't look quite ready after the allotted 8-10 minutes. Don't hesitate to take them out of the oven when they are a bit soft in the middle because you can easily overcook them and ruin the consistency if you over-bake. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart

Brown sugar + butter + apples = what's not to like?

Earlier this fall, I took a trip with Davis to a local apple orchard where we somehow managed to pick 11 pounds of apples in a frenzy. We had intended to pick enough for an apple pie with a few left over for a snack but we outdid ourselves!

My eyes definitely bulged in shock when the cashier weighed our apple haul, but I knew there was no turning back. In fact, it turns out it was great we over-picked because otherwise, I might not have had enough apples (or courage for fear of using the coveted apples for a dessert debacle) to try something new beyond the usual apple crumble I make.

Which leads me to the divine apple cinnamon brown sugar cake that I made.  I knew the minute I smeared the cake pan with copious amounts of butter and sprinkled brown sugar on top of the butter that we couldn't go wrong with this cake.

After the butter and sugar, I arranged the apples in a somewhat circular pattern on the bottom of the pan, put the springy cake mixture on top and sent it to the oven to bake in all it's buttery, brown sugary glory.

And, oh how glorious it was.

I highly recommend you try making this cake in place of a beloved apple cobbler/apple pie/apple crumble recipe that I'm sure has been your stand-by.

When you invert the cake onto a plate when it is still slightly warm and see the apples glistening in the butter and brown sugar goodness, you will be glad you left your apple comfort zone.

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Apple Cake

Ingredients

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

3 apples, Empire or Gala (about 1 1/2 pounds), each peeled, cored, and sliced into 8 wedges

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup whole milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat bottom and side of a 9-inch round cake pan with 2 tablespoons butter; sprinkle bottom with brown sugar. In a medium bowl, toss apples with lemon juice; arrange in prepared pan in two concentric circles (you might not use all of them).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat remaining 8 tablespoons butter with granulated sugar until light and fluffy. 

Add eggs and vanilla; beat until incorporated. With mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture in three parts and the milk in two, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Spoon batter over apples in pan; smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack, at least 30 minutes and up to 6 hours (if cake has risen above rim of pan, simply push back inside rim).

To serve, run a knife around edge of pan, and invert cake onto a rimmed platter.

Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart