Cookie Dough | Basics with Babish

(light music) - This episode is sponsored by Rocket Mortgage. I've prepared many meals in apartment kitchens over the years, but thanks to you watching me at home, I was able to purchase the place of my dreams. And that includes this incredible studio kitchen. Like any big change, there are always a few steps you need to take to get things moving. I talked about my journey to this point on Rocket Mortgage's new show, Big Change, and you can watch it at the link in the video description. Let's get down to the

basics

. (upbeat music) (light music) Okay, so the first thing your

cookie

s need is

dough

.

So we're going to make a kind of master

dough

, one that with some adjustments should be able to produce four different types of

cookie

s or biscuits, as they are sometimes incorrectly called. I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding. First things first, in most cookie contexts, you'll get a lot of mileage out of browning the butter. You can do this by cooking the butter over medium heat stirring constantly for about five minutes until the milk proteins separate into little pieces and start to turn a beautiful tan brown color. At this point, to prevent burning, we want to immediately remove it from the hot pan.

And to be safe, you can throw in a couple of ice cubes if you want. Then you'll want to cover it and let it solidify overnight in the refrigerator. For this recipe, it is imperative that each element of the cookie dough be as cold as possible. And since butter gets quite hard when it's cold, the only way to make this recipe is with a stand mixer or a very powerful hand mixer. We start with eight ounces of unsalted butter, 6 1/2 ounces if you browned it beforehand because it tends to lose moisture in the cooking process. We'll smooth it out a bit with the paddle attachment on our mixer before adding 4 1/2 ounces of granulated sugar and 9 3/4 ounces of light brown sugar.

Then we beat them at high speed for about three minutes until the mixture becomes light and fluffy. Remove paddle and lower sides of bowl. And then we can start adding our eggs. Two large eggs, added one at a time while the mixer is running on medium speed, making sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. Scrape the paddle and sides of the bowl once more. And then it's time to present our dry ingredients to the party. In a separate bowl, combine 11 1/2 ounces of all-purpose flour, one tablespoon of kosher salt, and half a teaspoon of baking soda.

Beat lightly until well combined, pour into the mixer and mix until well blended. That is, the flour is completely hydrated and there are no dry areas. And there you have it. Our base, basic, base, all dough and no cookie dough. And this is where we begin chapter one of your novel Choose Your Own Adventure Cookie. Sure, this would be perfect for traditional chocolate chips and pecans, but why not start by going a little crazy? Here, I have some boiled corn from earlier this week that I'm going to cut into even smaller pieces and throw in there with that.

And now, how about some nice chopped pretzels? I'm just going to look at all of this along with a handful of candy chips, maybe some M&M's, and damn I'm feeling frisky, how about some Butterfingers cut into small pieces? You can really put whatever you want here, but at the end of the day, you'll want to add 12 ounces of ingredients total. Massage those ingredients into the dough as little as possible. You don't want to add gluten to them and you ended up with tough cookies. Then cover and refrigerate for at least one hour and up to three days.

In fact, the longer the better. Three days in the refrigerator will help the cookie dough dry age and give it a really subtle and delicious flavor. As you can see, I'm portioning them out using a small scoop of ice cream on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and baking on the middle rack at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating halfway through baking and really starting to check after. 15 minutes. No two ovens are the same and it may take a couple of batches to get it perfect. Once you've let them cool in the pan for about five minutes and can rotate them freely without them falling apart, transfer them to a wire rack where you can let them cool completely.

If you can control yourself. In the meantime, why don't we try a slightly more elegant combination? I have four ounces of macadamia nuts that I'm going to toast at 375 for five or 10 minutes until they start to toast. Let them cool completely before cutting and adding them to your base dough. I'm generally not a big fan of white chocolate, but it works really well in this recipe. I have four ounces that I'm going to cut into bite-sized pieces. Then I bought two ounces of unsweetened dried cranberries and two ounces of sweetened dried coconut. Can I shred all that in there?

Be sure to refrigerate completely before baking. At least an hour, ideally up to three days. And take them out and bake as before 375, for 18, 20 minutes, on the middle rack, rotating them halfway through, and let them cool for about five minutes on the baking sheet until you can turn them freely without breaking them. Then go ahead and transfer them to a wire rack. And there you have it. White chocolate cookies, macadamia nuts, blueberries and coconut. Now you might be wondering, "Baby, where's the chocolate?" Well, I have your chocolate right here. We are going to prepare our dough in exactly the same way up to the point of adding the dry ingredients.

Next, we'll substitute four ounces of flour with high-quality Dutch-process cocoa powder. So that's 7 1/2 ounces of all-purpose, four ounces of cocoa powder and the same half teaspoon of baking soda and a tablespoon of salt. We will also add a teaspoon of instant espresso powder. This is not enough to make it taste like coffee. It will just make extra chocolate. Beat very little until smooth and then continue as before. Add the dry stuff, mix on medium-low heat until just incorporated, and there you have it, a rich, one-touch version of our cookie dough. Now all you need are some delicious fillings.

How about a coffee and caramel cookie or as Jess likes to call it, the acronym? First, we'll add 12 chopped ounces of your favorite chocolate covered candy bar and an additional teaspoon or two of that instant espresso powder. This will make it taste a little like coffee. Mix everything, cover, refrigerate and bake as before. Now the chocolate cookies are a little more challenging because because of their color it is harder to know when they are ready. In fact, you might want to make a batch of their blonde brethren before even trying them so you know how your oven behaves and when to take the damn things out.

Same thing, let them cool in the pan for about five minutes until you can twist them without breaking them. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely if you can. And now you might be saying "Baby, that's still not enough chocolate for me." Well, friends, I think it's time to go all the way. Triple chocolate. Six ounces of high-quality chocolate chips and six ounces of freshly chopped high-quality chocolate in one batch of chocolate cookie dough. And maybe think about the chocolate as you mix it all together. Cover, refrigerate, bake, bake. There you have it guys.

The most chocolatey cookies in the entire country. We've talked a lot about how these cookies are made, but what do they look, feel, and taste? Well, they have a slightly crunchy exterior and a dense, chewy interior. They are well proportioned and full of delicious things. And just a perfect portrait of everything I love most about cookies. And we have managed to make four different types of cookies with practically the same base dough. They are best eaten within two days and frozen beautifully if you can keep them that long. I know it sounds like a joke, but it's not.

These barely lasted 48 hours. Thanks again to Rocket Mortgage for sponsoring this episode. As I mentioned earlier, I was a part of his new show on YouTube called Big Change, where I talk about the crazy journey it's been from doing this show in several different kitchens to now where I work in this studio every day. And that is thanks to you. Head to the link in the video description to watch the episode on Rocket Learn's YouTube channel.