Thursday, September 22, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans



I've been bad...I've been very bad.  Last week, Butter Horns and now chocolate chip cookies.  The inevitable played out with some unwelcome weight gain so you probably won't see another sweet recipe from me for a while.  It was sure fun while it lasted though ;) 


I will gladly place the blame on a good friends who made these warm and fresh and served them after dinner at their home recently.  Just the right balance of chips and pecans - heaven! Some of the blame could also rest of the shoulders of the changing season which makes comfort food so much more appealing. WARNING - do NOT put a whole plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies out on your kitchen counter. 

I did try something that I've never done before.  After realizing the wickedness of my ways, I froze the rest of the cookie dough so I wouldn't be tempted to bake the whole batch.  


I first scooped the cookie dough into balls the size I would bake them, placed them on a baking sheet in the freezer until they were solid, and then put them into zipper freezer bags.  To make just a small batch of cookies as a treat on the weekend, I will just take out a couple of dough balls for each of us in the morning and put them in a bowl in the frig to thaw out during the day.  (Don't leave them on the counter because they do contain raw egg!).  Then bake them up as usual.  Perfect for portion control. 

Can anyone resist a warm chocolate chip cookie?  Pas Moi!  I love them chewy in the center and slightly crispy on the edges.  How you do like them?


Happy Fall to You All!



Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Carol Demasters
Food editor, Milwaukee Journal Times, Circa 1980s

Printable Recipe

2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar – not packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons baking soda
3 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips
2 cups pecans, chopped

Note:  Sometimes I add 1/2 cup of M&Ms to the recipe for our grandsons :)

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugars together until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and blend thoroughly on slow speed. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix just until incorporated. Add chocolate chips and pecans and, again, blend just until incorporated.

Dough can be shaped into balls and frozen. Defrost in refrigerator at least 8 hours.

Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.

56 comments:

  1. I like them in front of me:@) Love chocolate chip cookies and I have frozen the dough in the past, it works well-enjoy:@)

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  2. Chocolate Chip cookies are DH's favorite and last week I made them for him. I have probably made them hundreds of times but you won't believe what I did. First of all I had some of the grands I was babysitting for which was my first mistake. I accidently picked up the baking powder instead of the baking soda. The grands loved them but I thought they were awful. I am making them again this afternoon to make DH happy. Lesson learned, don't have too many things going on at once with the grands here. Your post made me think of it again.

    Carolyn/A Southerners Notebook

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  3. Susan these look so yummy! Chocolate Chip Cookies are my favorite. I like the idea of freezing the dough, can't wait to give this recipe a try.

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  4. Great idea to form the dough into balls and freeze to bake as you want--sounds like a great recipe!

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  5. I am feeling bad ;) I think I should make a batch of these gorgeous cookies right now! They look irresistible!

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  6. Yes, you are very bad! Bad for reminding me how much I love chocolate chip cookies!! I wish I had thought of the trick of freezing some when my boys were little. They loved coming home to the smell of cookies baking and eating some warm from the oven with a glass of cold milk.

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  7. I need a couple of those about now - have not had lunch yet. :D They do look good.

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  8. what nice and amazing cookies, I love them !!! gloria

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  9. What a wonderful recipe! There's nothing I love more in baked goods than a sprinkling of walnuts, peanuts or pecans and these cookies look right up my alley. Thanks for sharing your recipe and beautiful photos!

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  10. I don't think that's bad at all. I think it's very, very good. I wish I had a few of those.

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  11. Susan, this is a wonderful recipe and I love the "freeze and take out what you need" idea, never tried it with raw cookie dough, but I think I will now. Great to have fresh baked goodies easily for the holidays. xo,

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  12. Really? We can do that? GREAT idea..I mean they sell frozen cookie dough..So why not?
    Took you to test drive and see..
    Thank you..
    I think warm chocolate chip cookies are a slice of heaven on earth.

    Is that an Ann board?
    It's lovely.

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  13. Mmmm, the perfect cookie. I've started baking since the weather has gotten cooler, apple pies and crisps.
    Guess I'll need to work a bit harder at the gym!
    -Lynn

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  14. Oh they look wonderful. I don't think I've ever made a chocolate chip pecan cookie...chocolate chip walnut cookie, but not with the pecans. You may have found a good way to enjoy a cookie every now and then. I might just eat the frozen dough raw egg or not.

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  15. Such great ideas! They look so delish!

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  16. Nothing says loving and home like warm chocolate chip cookies!!!

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  17. These chocolate chip cookies are worth a little splurge if you ask me! I do love the addition of nuts- they make delicious chocolate chip cookies even better. It's dangerous for me to keep them around, because I have no willpower at all to resist them! :)

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  18. Delightful and addictive cookies! You are right about freezing the rest for later! :)

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  19. These are too hard to resist! Love their presentation on that beautiful board~

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  20. Susan, I was just telling Joe that I wanted to make him some chocolate chip cookies (his favorite), and then you post this wonderful picture and recipe! Happy Fall to you :-)

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  21. This looks so good; really love the idea of freezing them like this. With just 2 in the house it is a pefect solution to have fressh coookied whenever we had the urge to be bad...a good kind of bad though.
    Rita

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  22. Mmmm! This is how I like my cookies...nice and thick! Love your photos, Susan!

    Have a great weekend! :)

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  23. I can tell instantly whether I'm going to love a chocolate chip cookie just by looking at them---these are amazing! I love the chunky lumpy look of them, I'm making them asap!

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  24. I think what I like most about chocolate chip cookies is the dough, honestly, even though I love chocolate, I like to use lots of nuts and not overwhelming chocolate. Can't wait to try this recipe... but I'm with you... I've been especially bad lately and have to wait a little (and diet a little!)>

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  25. I am on a diet, I'm making great sacrifices(- 5 kg).... these cookies are too tempting for me .... better run away!
    have a lovely weekend Susan, a warm hug....

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  26. guess what out on my drainboard ?????

    BUTTER and EGGS

    getting ready to bake chocolate chip cookies this afternoon...

    happy Fall, my friend

    kary
    xx

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  27. These look so good! Pat

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  28. Nutty and loaded with chocolate! The photos are really mouthwatering.

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  29. My favorite cookies, so i like very much. And when they are on the warm side theres nothing like it. And thank you very much for your blog visit to mine. I will be back on your often. Richard from Amish Stories.

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  30. Can we ever have enough cc cookies? I don't think so and I'm willing to try them all!

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  31. I would yell at you for all these sweets...but these look like perfect CCCs. So thick!

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  32. Can't think of a better combo than chocolate chips and pecans! Love these and would eat quite a few too~

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  33. The cookies look great. I love the idea of freezing the dough into balls for portion control. It's just too easy to eat one after another. Thanks for the tip!

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  34. Just mouthwatering...looks so easy to prepare and delicious.

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  35. I could eat about a dozen of those in a minute.

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  36. Oh dear, I have the same weakness and can never pass up a plate of chocolate chip cookies. Your idea of freezing the dough may save the day, Susan. If I don't bake the whole recipe some of the cookies just may be saved for another day.

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  37. These look fabulous! I'd like a couple right now! What a great idea to have homemade cookies on the "ready" in the event of unexpected company!

    I'd also like to thank you for your kind words about my mom. She will be forever missed and kept in our hearts. I'm also sorry to hear you lost your mom.

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  38. I love the idea of freezing scoops of dough - ideal portion control! You can bake up just as many as you need!

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  39. I love the look of your cookies. I am such a chocolate chip cookie fan, that I can tell how they will taste and the texture of the cookie by it's look. And yours look so very very good! Pecans and chocolate.... life it good!
    Thanks for bringing your delicious little cookies to ON THE MENU MONDAY! Yvonne

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  40. Your cookies look so chewy and delicious! I love pecans. I am on a strict diet so regretfully I can't indulge in a cookie binge right now.

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  41. I love recipes that need warnings!

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  42. I love the idea of freezing cookie dough! Though for me, that would probably be worse than just baking them as a whole batch, because then I eat a LOT more when they're fresh out of the oven than when they're beeen around for a little longer....haha :) These cookies look delicious though- I can definitely see why you'd need a little self control with them!!

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  43. Choclate chip cookies? count me in. Your version is just lovely. I can have those babie all the time.

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  44. Of all the cookies out there, chocolate chip cookies are my favorite! These look dangerous!

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  45. I like them the way you do. We do not care for thin crispy cookies.
    These look wonderful!
    Did you chill them before baking?
    Happy Fall to you too. It was 80 and humid today here in NY! No sight of Fall. My clematis are blooming, the ones I cut back to the ground in July.

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  46. Thank you for all of your kind and thoughtful comments!

    Monique, I bought this board at TJMaxx a couple of years ago.

    Kathleen, yes I did chill them because I wanted to mix the dough in the morning and bake them later in the day but I'm sure they would work just as well without chilling. I took the dough out of the frig one hour before I wanted to bake them.

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  47. I had to drop by again to look at these cookies, im so hungry right now,lol. And i really like your site a lot. Im looking foward to your next post. Richard from Amish Stories.

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  48. Susan, I love chocolate chips cookies...and even more with pecans...look delicious. Hope you are having a fantastic week and happy Fall to you too :-)

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  49. Your cookies look so good. Just wish I had one right now. Yum!!!

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  50. Fall is on its way to me starting this weekend. I still love those cookies. Have a great weekend everyone, from the Amish community of Lebanon,Pa. Richard from Amish Stories.

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  51. First of all, that cutting board is out of this world. I can't resist chocolate chip cookies either. I do think the fall season brings on a spate of baking for us all. Joni

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  52. Your cookies look wonderful!! Yum

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  53. Chocolate chip cookies are always my favorite... with pecan sounds delicious!

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  54. I can almost smell them and feel the warm chocolate melting in my mouth. That takes me back to when my husband and I were first married. We would make a batch and cook a few up and then eat out of the bowl in the fridge for the rest of the week. I just love raw chocolate chip cookie dough! Probably love it more than the cookies, although I always have to have those too.

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  55. I'm a real sucker for chocolate chip cookies, but when you put the pecans in, I go overboard. I really like the recipe.

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