Dear Caitlin,

There’s so much to catch up on.  I should probably, you know, call you or something, instead of relying on blog posts to keep up.  I don’t know, phone calls seem so 1999.

Speaking of 1999, these cookies are dabomb.com, which is a phrase I’m trying to bring back.  Any help you can lend me with that project is obviously appreciated.

Also, there’s a BABY in your life.  You should buy ALL THE SOCKS.  And then make Mom and Dad some cookies, because, from what I’ve heard, they deserve cookies right now.  Maybe these are the cookies.

These are my Dad’s cookies, which, as you know, are the best cookies.  In this variation, I’ve removed the chocolate from the inside and put it on the outside.

We made these for new neighbors, who had kiddos.  I think if I had made them for adults, I would have put toasted coconut on the outside.  However, as you know, when there’s a new baby, you buy socks.  Under the same principle, when there are new kids next door, you cover baked goods with sprinkles.

Admittedly, I prefer sprinkles, too.

I’m not going to go into great detail, because, please, these are cookies, not rocket science/yogurt making.  There’s no aerospace engineering or sterilizing that needs to go on.

I have, however, gleaned a few tips from my Dad over the years.  When baking cookies, it is absolutely essential that the ingredients be at the right temperature.  Take butter out of the fridge four hours in advance.  Microwaving does not count.  It needs to come to room temperature naturally.

On that note, put the butter out of reach of dogs.  That situation got really ugly, really fast.

Also, cookies should be removed from the oven as soon as there are any brown spots on top.  Then, let them cool on the pan.  This keeps them pleasantly soft.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 Cup Butter (2 sticks) at room temperature
2 eggs at room temperature
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup White Sugar
3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
8 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (optional)
Sprinkles (sort of optional)

(1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Put parchment paper on two cookie sheets.

(2) Combine butter, eggs, and brown sugar.  I do this in a stand mixer, but it can be done by hand, or with a hand mixer.  Combine thoroughly.

(2) Whisk white sugar, flour, salt, and baking soda together.

(3) One cup at a time, add dry ingredients to wet, mixing as you go.

(4) When dry ingredients are incorporated into wet, scoop two tablespoons worth of dough into balls.  I find that in this recipe, rounding the dough out (rather than plopping it) makes for more evenly-baked cookies.

(5)  Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on baking sheet.

(6) Bake for 7-12 minutes.  If you can see any brown spots on the tops of the cookies, they’re done.  Mine were done around 9 minutes.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet so that they solidify.

(7) While the cookies, cool, melt the chocolate.  I did this in the microwave in 10 second bursts.  Stir the chocolate between each burst.  Stop microwaving just before the chocolate totally liquifies.  The heat from the surrounding chocolate should be sufficient to finish it.  Of course, when melting chocolate, never let liquid enter the process, or the chocolate may seize and become unworkable.

(8) Once the cookies are completely cool, dip them.  I do this using a spoon.  I hold the cookie over the bowl and spoon chocolate over the desired area.  Let it drip for a minute, and then place back on parchment paper.  This is messy.  Accept it and move on.

(9) Before the chocolate cools, sprinkle as desired.  Toasted coconut would probably also be delicious here.

PS – The copy of Budget Bytes you sent me arrived!!  It could be my new favorite cookbook.  I planned meals exclusively around it for the upcoming week, and I legitimately cut nearly 20% off of our already-lean grocery bill.  This was also a week during which we needed a new bottle of olive oil and some pre-packaged “back-up” foods, so it could be more than a 20% cut in upcoming weeks.  Totally worth it.