How to Feel Chipper on a Rainy Day

One of my cherished cookie jars, a gift from a favorite aunt.

Today was a crazy Sunday day! I am use to unusual weather in Northern Virginia. But today it was raining and snowing several times throughout the day. I'm not talking about sleet...I'm talking snow flakes and rain drops at the same time!  I guess it's Mother Nature teasing us. Last Tuesday, we even got snow. It's been raining basically non-stop since Friday evening. I am so ready for spring to come and it's past due in the Old Dominion! 
I have been trying to trim down my collection of cookbooks and decided to purge the ones that don't have any pictures (I have to start somewhere, and besides, I am a visual person).  All the while, I was craving something simple to go with a good cup of coffee,  and I  thought about chocolate chips cookies which I haven't made in a long time. I wanted something besides the old Toll House recipe. I pulled the Macrina Bakery and Cafe Cookbook off the shelf. The Macrina Bakery has three locations, all located in Seattle. They have gotten pretty good reviews from Urban Spoon. The one thing I don't like about the cookbook is the lack of photos (very few and in black and white). 

This is one of their best selling cookies. I decided to make half the recipe as in the book, and to the other half I added toasted coconut. Did I mention I love coconut chocolate chip cookies?

Toasted coconut (I did 350 degrees for about 5 minutes with frequent turning)

Olivia’s Old-Fashioned Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Leslie Mackie’s Macrina Bakery and Café Cookbook, copyright 2003

“This recipe, Macrina’s version on the traditional Toll House classic, makes the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever tasted. The recipe is actually named after two special Olivias: my daughter and the grandmother of our pastry chef, Karra Wise.”

Makes 16 cookies.

2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Add chocolate chips and mix well with a spoon. Set aside.

Combine butter, shortening, granulated sugar and light brown sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and pale in color. Add 1 egg and mix until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the remaining egg and vanilla extract. Continue mixing until incorporated, about 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl again.

Using a rubber spatula, fold half of the dry ingredients into the dough. After the first batch is fully incorporated, fold in the rest of the dry ingredients and continue folding until all of the flour has been absorbed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. At this point the dough can be formed into cookies or stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

The dough is delicious, you can't help but eat a little (or more) of it!

 Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

Scoop dough out of the bowl (I like to use a medium ice cream scoop) and roll the dough into 2-inch balls. Place 8 balls on each baking sheet, leaving 3 inches between each ball. Flatten the balls with the palm of your hand to about 1 inch thick. Place 1 sheet of cookies in the refrigerator while baking the other sheet.

Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, on center rack of oven for 15 to 18 minutes each. To help the cookies bake evenly, rotate the baking sheet every 4 minutes or so.
 

Make sure you rotate the cookie sheet to ensure even baking.

The finished cookies will be golden brown around the edges, and still light in the center. Let cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes. The cooled cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Coconut and chocolate chip cookie.

 My scoop yielded 25 cookies (I think they were closer to 1 1/2" balls). They baked for about 14 minutes.

Okay, so we didn't exactly wait 15 minutes for them to cool. I mean, really, who can pass up warm chocolate chips cookies straight out of the oven?  These cookies were tested by my (ultimate cookie tester) husband who gave them the thumbs up.  This recipe is definitely a keeper, even though the cookbook probably isn't.  I plan on adding it to my box of cookbooks bound for the used book store to exchange for some with full color photos!

These won't last long!