Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies

The recipe for the Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies used to be posted on the Top Secret Recipes Site. I think it is still available but for a fee. I looked through my recipe book and I found a print out from November 2000. I also found a printout of the Neiman Marcus recipe from around the same time. (The Neiman Marcus recipe is posted below.)

I used to make these cookies with See’s semi-sweet chocolate chips. See’s chocolate chips are larger and flatter and back then it was the only readily available baking chips of this shape and size. The chips are dark, almost black and taste just as wonderful as See’s chocolates. I just discovered that Guittard supplies the chocolate for See’s.

Unfortunately, in Colorado, See’s cannot be found in every mall like in California. We do have a See’s distribution store but it means I have to intentionally drive there and right now they are in the process of moving. A coworker went over to the shop before Christmas and they were out of certain items because they were moving into their new store. I wasn’t sure if the chips would be in stock so I didn’t make the trip. I think both Doubletree and Neiman Marcus use plain ole semisweet chocolate chips. You can be fancy and use the good stuff if you desire. I’m using semi-sweet chocolate chunks and 60% dark chocolate chips.

It had been so long since I made these cookies that I decided to make both the Doubletree and the Neiman Marcus cookies at the same time to compare them. Which one do I like? They are both really good. The Neiman Marcus cookies bake up really nicely. I love the shape. They look almost like the Keebler Soft Batch cookies. The Doubletree cookies, because of the ground oatmeal, have a very nice taste and texture.

Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
½ cup rolled oats
2¼ cups all purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
¾ cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla
½ teaspoon lemon juice
2 eggs
3 cups semi-sweet, chocolate chips
1½ cups chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine. Combine the ground oats with the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

3. Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in another medium bowl with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix until smooth.

4. Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are well blended.

5. Spoon rounded 1 ¼ cup portions onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the scoops about 2 inches apart. You don’t need to press the dough flat. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle. Store in a sealed container when cool to keep soft.

For the best results, chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator before baking the cookies.

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Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’m sure everyone has heard the myth behind this cookie recipe and the Mrs. Fields cookie recipe so I won't repeat it. If you haven't heard it, google "Urban Legend Cookie" and you can read it on one of the numerous sites. There are several versions of this recipe on the internet. Some of these recipes that claim to be the secret Neiman Marcus recipe is actually the Mrs. Fields urban legend cookie recipe. I’m posting the actual Neiman Marcus recipe. This recipe is the real deal. It can be found posted on the Neiman Marcus website.

I baked these cookies the same time I baked the Doubletree cookie. I will do a separate post on the Doubletree cookie.

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder (I used plain ole Folger's crystals)
1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used chocolate chunks)


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy (approximately 30 seconds)

2. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.

3. In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips.

4. Using a 1 ounce scoop or a 2 tablespoon measure, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart. Gently press down on the dough with the back of a spoon to spread out into a 2 inch circle. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

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Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Nut Cookies

I’ve been using the same recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies since the 90s. This recipe is found on the canister of Quaker oatmeal. It is my mom’s favorite cookie. I remember making it one year and sticking a clean penny in one of the cookies. The idea was the lucky winner would win a prize. The person almost broke a tooth. I was young and stupid.

Ingredients
½ cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup raisins
1 cup walnuts, chopped

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

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Almond Anise Biscotti (Clone of Nonni's Cioccolati Biscotti)

My favorite biscotti is not very biscotti-like. I like the kind you can find in the cookie aisle of most grocery stores including Costco. Nonni's classic biscotti dipped in dark chocolate makes a perfect dunking stick. This biscotti has almonds and is flavored with just the right amount of aniseed. Unlike traditional biscotti, the crunch of this biscotti is more cookie-like due to the butter.

I love the look of the pistachio-cranberry biscotti with flecks or orange rind but when it comes to flavor, my favorite is the classic almond-anise.

Yields about 24 biscotti depending on how you shape your loaves and how you cut your slices.

3 large eggs
1 cup baker's sugar
1/4 cup unsalted sweet butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons whole aniseed
3/4 cup whole raw almonds, coarsely chopped

Mise en place:
1. Bring eggs to room temperature.
2. Coarsely chop the raw almonds. You can use the blanched almond slivers but I like the look of whole almonds. I buy mine from the bulk bins of a natural grocery store.
3. Grind the aniseed. I use my nifty Cucina Bella. I love the little machine. It makes my smoothies, grinds up my flax seeds and spices, blends small amounts of soup…

Method:
1. In a large bowl, cream together eggs and sugar. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and anise.
3. Melt the butter in a microwave-safe measuring cup.
4. Add the melted butter and vanilla extract to the creamed eggs and sugar and stir until combined.
5. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix well but do not overmix.
6. Fold in the chopped almonds.


7. Cover the dough and refrigerate until cold.
8. After the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare two baking sheets lined with silicone baking sheets. You can use parchment paper but I tried that at a friend’s house and it burned the bottoms. It could have something to do with the fact that her oven had been on for six hours or maybe the calibration of her oven temp is different from mine.
9. Divide the dough into two parts. I flatten it in the bowl, divided it in half and scooped it out using my plastic pastry scraper. I've had this scraper for a long time. The first day of Baking & Pastry 101, Chef Kramer gave us all a plastic scraper. It was probably a free item from one of the school's sponsors. It says "ConAgra" on it. I use the scraper for cutting dough and for gently folding delicate batters so that I do not overmix (overmixing means tunneling in the finished product).
10. Form each part of the dough into two rectangles about 8 inches by 4 inches and 1 inch high.



11. When the oven is preheated, bake them until deep golden brown. It should take about 20-25 minutes depending on your oven. You may need to shift the baking sheets around and turn them to get even browning.


12. Remove the dough from the oven and let them cool slightly. They should be cool enough to handle and the sugar, as it cools, should harden the dough a bit.
13. Slide the slab onto a cutting board. Using a good serrated knife*, slice the slab into ¾ inch slices.


14. Spread the biscotti slices on a baking sheet, cut side down and bake for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, flip them oven to the other cut side and bake another 10 minutes.



15. Let cool completely.

To dip:
Melt some dark chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. You will have to microwave a few minutes, stir, microwave some more, stir, and continue to do this until the chocolate is melted. Do no scorch the chocolate. Dip the bottoms of the biscotti in the chocolate, place on wax paper and let them set. I did not dip them this time. The bf doesn't like chocolate so I left them plain.

Tips:
1. It is very important to use a good serrated slicer knife. It doesn’t have to be expensive. I used my inexpensive large serrated knife from my cheaper Cuisinart triple-riveted set. I like this set a lot. They have a good weight for handling. The tang of the knife goes all the way through. I find that I turn to this set more often than my f.dick set because my f.dicks are not in a knife block on the counter. They are stored in a portable plastic knife case.
2. I gave this recipe to a co-worker and she said that there was not enough anise flavor. They used ground aniseed. For this recipe I use whole aniseed and I ground it myself. It makes all the difference. I find that 1 ½ teaspoons of whole aniseed is just the right amount. You will have to adjust accordingly if you use ground aniseed or not so fresh aniseed.
3. Let the dough bake until golden brown during the first baking. This will make the slicing easier.
4. Don’t let the almonds clump too close together. It is hard to slice through them all and the biscotti slice with break apart.
5. Variation: You can replace the almond and vanilla with shelled pistachios, dried cranberries, and orange zest. Dip them in melted white chocolate. The colors are gorgeous. You can make a few varieties and place them in the clear treat baggies and give them as holiday gifts. Other flavor additions can include: mini chocolate chips, coconut, dried cherries, pine nuts, dates...use your imagination. You can also vary the extract. I used vanilla for this but you can use lemon, orange, almond, pandan leaf...I think pandan biscotti is next on the list.

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Lavender Shortbread Cookies

I used my regular recipe for shortbread cookies, subbed vanilla extract for the almond extract and added about a tablespoon of dried lavender.

• 1 cup butter, softened
  
• 1/2 cup white baker's sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon dried lavender buds
  
• 2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• milk, as needed

1. Cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla extract and lavender, beat until mixed.
2. Slowly mix in flour.
3. Drizzle in a little milk until dough forms a ball. You want a very dry dough but I find that a little milk helps pull it all together. I also live in Denver where it is very dry and I often need to add a little more liquid or less flour whenever I make a dough.
4. Refrigerate dough. I left the dough on the counter overnight. It is cold downstairs in my house.
5. Roll dough out about 1/4" thick. Cut with small cookie cutters. I used small hearts. I really wanted small daisy shaped cutters.
6. Bake in a 300 degree oven for about 25 minutes until bottoms are slightly browned.

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Almond Shortbread Lollipops

I decided I wanted to do some Holiday baking. I went to Crate & Barrel yesterday and bought some cute cookie cutters. I opted for pretty generic shapes because I have Jewish friends. I didn't like the snowflake one. Bummer. I made all star cookies on lollipop sticks. They are all baked and in airtight containers rights now. I will decorate with white chocolate and royal icing tomorrow. I made four batches using two pounds of butter.

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter (I bought Horizon Organic)
1/2 cup baker's sugar
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 - 2 1/2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
water (as needed)

1. Cream together butter, sugar, and almond extract. (Bring butter to room temperature first.)
2. Mix in flour one cup at a time. You may not need the last 1/2 cup depending on consistency. I had to add a few drops of water to get the dough to come together. It was too crumbly. I thought I was going to have to toss it but I did a test bake and it tasted wonderful.

Tommorow they will be dipped in white chocolate and decorated with blue or red royal icing. Too bad the snowflake cutter was too difficult to deal with.

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