SLOUGH, ENGLAND (Web Desk) : Like a moth to a flame, like a mosquito drawn to your favourite black outfit, like the earth going around the sun, sometimes you must succumb to forces beyond your control. One of these forces is the siren call of the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and who among us has any power to resist? If there is anything in a kitchen more alluring than a batch of chocolate chip cookies coming fresh out of the oven, I’ve yet to find it. Chocolate chip cookies loaded with dark chocolate chips (minimum 70 percent, unless you prefer milk chocolate) and packed with crushed walnuts – or hazelnuts, or almonds, or even no nuts – is the ultimate kitchen goal.
If a chore-hater like me can have cookie dough ready in 20 minutes, so can you. Preheat your oven to 350F/180C. Line a baking tray with baking paper and set aside.
Take 4oz unsalted butter out of the fridge so it is slightly softened – alternatively, heat it in the microwave in 10-second increments. Take 2 eggs out onto the counter so they are not fridge-cold. As with most decent baking projects, it will help if you have an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugars (yes, we are going to be using both white and brown sugar here).
However, if you find yourself in a bind, you could put this together with a wooden spoon and a really strong mixing arm. Unlike a cake, a cookie is very forgiving. I once left the butter in the microwave for too long and made this with melted butter.
No one noticed a.
