Chocolate Chip Baking Week 1: Mrs Field’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

What makes Mrs Field’s Cookies so fabulous? Is it the soft and chewy factor, the delicious always-freshly-baked smell it gives off or the abundance of chocolate chip cookies? Personally, although they are not my favourite chocolate chip cookie in the marketplace, I think it is that sweet sugary crunch you get with each bite, reminiscent of eating cookie dough where the sugar has not caramelised.

I was desperately trying to find a recipe for her chocolate chip cookies for this week – it was nowhere on the internet but this site claimed this recipe was legitimate. So I made this recipe and oh my gosh, they were much loved, much revered and had these qualities of the REAL chocolate chip cookie so globally loved:

• Crunchy outside and soft, chewy inside
• A massive heap of chocolate chips everywhere (I mean the recipe actually called for this, I did not add anymore like I usually do in recipes)
• Big 🙂
• Slightly chewy and delicious like crazy

Did it have that sugary crunch factor? No 😦 and I was so anticipating it!!! So while it wasn’t completely like Mrs Field’s cookie it is (I eat as I type – actually nibble), this recipe was just like described above and seriously – do the pictures not speak for themselves!!!

Is this cookie a possible winner? No – although my parents, grandparents and even passing by friend (do you remember PDS?) adored it happily, my favourite chocolate chip cookie still remains this recipe I use from Exclusively Food! One of the main reasons for this was because they stay soft and chewy and do not harden and become crunchy on cooling (these hardened but were soft and moist inside – I suppose baking for a little less time since I baked 1-2 minute over will keep it softer :))

Any adaptations – I try not to so I can get full effect for each recipe but here are some things I learnt and did:

• The step for creaming butter and sugar with eggs and vanilla all at once was very different but did not seem increase flavour – though the cookies were very moist
• I did not use baking powder due to various past experiences involving cookiesand slightly flattened them out – they still spread insanely but remained puffy and pick-up-able

  

  My massive spread batch

• I used dark brown sugar as a specification

And that is about it: Next up = Nestle Tollhouse Cookies 🙂