Fugly Chocolate Chip Cookies

Most of you know that I’m not a baker. I’m not sure whether it’s because I don’t have a sweet tooth or if it’s the exactness of baking that doesn’t appeal to me. Don’t get me wrong, when I see a gorgeous cake, cupcakes or other assorted baked goods, I usually think “ooooh!!!”, but then I go straight back to my favourite types of cooking.

I joke that, most nights, dinner at my house is like an episode of “Chopped”. We’ve all had those days: you look in the fridge and think “Hmmmm, what can I make with these ingredients and whatever is in my pantry?”. I like the creative side of cooking, the inventing, the adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that to make something yummy.

But I digress! I stumbled across this recipe (note, this is NOT an original recipe) from Grub Street. Grub Street is one of the countless email lists that I’m on (although I’m not sure when I signed up). To be honest, I was reading about an Italian restaurant in New York when I saw this very cool little video (if you click on the link above, you can see it). Watching the short video, I immediately thought several things: 1) WOW, these chocolate chip cookies look insanely good; 2) WOW, these chocolate chip cookies look insanely easy; 3) BIG shout out to Maman for sharing their recipe!; and 4) HEY, what better way to celebrate Chocolate Chip Cookie Day (Monday May 15, 2017) than by whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies! (Note, see my comments below on the difference between the video and what I actually do.)

One thing they don’t mention: the cookies turn out really ugly. If you don’t mind that they aren’t attractive, then DING DING DING! We have a winner! While the original cookie recipe name was New York’s Most Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies, a better name for these might be FUGLY Chocolate Chip Cookies! They are ugly, but really good! In fact, they are too good not to share. Celebrate Chocolate Chip Cookie Day on Monday May 15 and enjoy!

Prep times: 10 minutes; Cook time: 10 minutes; Serves: 18 – 24 cookies (or 1 chocoholic)

What you need:

1/4 cup walnuts
1/3 cup macadamia nuts
2 cups chocolate baking wafers (I used bittersweet)
1 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 lb butter, softened and cubed
4 eggs

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (Note, if you have “convect”, use that. The first round, I used “bake” and they fell apart #cookiefail)
In a large bowl or your KitchenAid mixer, add the walnuts and macadamia nuts

Add the chocolate waters

Add the brown sugar

Add the flour

Add the butter

Add the eggs

Stir using the paddle attachment, mix on low (no more than speed 2, preferably speed 1). Push down from the sides as needed. Stir until mixed.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, scoop out the dough and put on a baking sheet (Note: due to the insane amount of butter, they spread a lot. The third batch I used tablespoons to measure. I liked these better and they were slightly crispier on the edges.)