Thursday, June 23, 2011

My biggest, most top-secret kitchen secret.

In typing that title, I suddenly couldn't recognize the word 'secret'. You know how that happens? You say or read the word enough and then WHOA... trippy. What is that word I just typed?!

Enough of my funky brain. You want to know the secretest secret of them all. Well, to be honest, I used to think this would be my ONE SECRET RECIPE... the one I would keep on file only in the deepest recesses of my brain, to be lost forever when I someday passed from this world to the next. When people would ask me what it was, I would smile mysteriously and say, "It's a family recipe."

But then I thought, what's the fun in that? Mysterious people suck.

So here it is: How to Make the Most Delicious Cookies Ever.

First, you have to read Part I of my method. You can find it HERE.

So, first of all, bake your cookies. Here I'm baking this recipe, with the addition of M&Ms. I've popped the frozen cookie dough right into a 400 degree oven for about nine minutes. They're still a little bit loose in the center now that I've pulled them out.

But you WANT them to be slightly underbaked. Pale. Wan. Anemic, colorless, pallid, pasty, weak.

See?

"But those don't look too bad," you say. Ahh, you're right - I COULD leave them as they are and they'd be okay. But as they cooled, their beautiful volume would vanish! They'd flatten to a dense, doughy cookie, with no more flavor than the plain mix of butter, sugar, and flour. Not awful.... but not something that people will bite into and say of which, "This is the best chocolate chip cookie I've ever had!" Which has happened. Honestly!

While they're sitting on the top of your stove, (HERE COMES THE SECRET!) preheat your broiler for a few minutes until it's toasty hot.

And then broil those babies.


See them now? They might look burned or overdone, but they're NOT. Now, if you had let the cookies bake at 400 until they looked this brown, you'd get crispy edges and a rather crunchy cookie. But when you broil them for 30-40 seconds, you only caramelize the top of the cookie, leaving the inside soft. And let me tell you what: caramelization equals FLAVOR, baby.

The other thing that happens, besides the creation of a beautifully browned, crackly cookie top, is that the cookie doesn't SINK and become dense as it cools. The top stays rounded and high, and air pockets form around the chocolate chips. It's soft, crackly, and moist at the same time.

See that crackly top? It's delicious.

I dare you to click on this picture and then zoom in!

So yes, this is my secretest secret of them all. It might not seem like a big deal, but I dare you to try it sometime. Underbake your cookies, and then broil them a little. A little step, but it makes a BIG difference.

You're welcome!

-Maeg

5 comments:

  1. That's what makes them like "surprise inside cookies?" Your cookies are the ones I always break will power and eat! Thank you for sharing this with the world. I say you get an extra jewel in your crown in heaven!

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  2. Mmmmmm... ME WANT SECRET RECIPE COOKIE NOW - MANY OF THEM!

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  3. So...after just reading your post about the new diet, I was thinking...maybe I need to give that a try! I totally have been feeling the way that you talked about for so long. I know partly it may be from what I've been going through-but I don't think so! I eat a LOT of junk and then I feel like junk and then I want more junk! Yuck! So...I was thinking that I could google and try, but then...BUT THEN you post this. Oh man. Oh stinkin' man. You killed it-I want them. thanks.
    haha!

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  4. LOL! You Kleists are very entertaining. That should be your family title.. "The Entertainers"

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