Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Pareve)

Amarante

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 12:56 pm

I have made chocolate cake with mayonnaise and when I saw this recipe I was intrigued. The result was excellent.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Excerpt From: Ashley Strickland Freeman - The Duke's Mayonnaise Cookbook
MAKES 2 DOZEN COOKIES

These chocolate chip cookies are now my go-to recipe. In fact, my mother-in-law claims they are “the best chocolate chip cookies” she’s ever had. I’ll take it! They are the perfect combination of chewy centers with slightly crunchy bottoms, making them ideal for ice cream sandwiches. I like to use a cookie scoop for ease of cleanup and uniform baking.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
¾ cup Duke’s Mayonnaise - obviously can use another brand
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Stir together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

3. Whisk together the mayonnaise, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a medium bowl until the mixture is smooth. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks.

“4. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop the dough into 24 balls. Or, roll the dough into 24 (1½-inch) balls. Place the dough balls 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

5. Bake the cookies at 350°F for 12 to 14 minutes, until the bottoms and edges of the cookies are lightly golden. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool.

Last edited by Amarante on Fri, Aug 19 2022, 1:56 pm; edited 1 time in total

Amarante

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 1:52 pm

zoom wrote:

What does the mayo do?
Its not instead of eggs..just wondering....

It replaces the fat.

The best chocolate chip cookies are made with butter of course although certain cookies need to be made with shortening.

Mayo is an interesting replacement for the fat. Using regular liquid oil produces inferior cookies in my opinion. Margarine is better texture than liquid fat. This is because different fats melt at different temperatures and so there is an interaction of melting point. One of the reasons to chill cookies before placing in the oven to give them a longer period before the fat melts completely.

Amarante

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 2:12 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

Cool! I make mayo cake but haven't tried mayo cookies. And I even have Dukes because there was a special.

Kewpie Mayo is another cult brand. It is a Japanese brand and made only with egg yolks so it is richer and creamier than US mayo. Japanese recipes use it and I think also for Japanese sushi. It is OU certified

Amarante

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 2:58 pm

egam wrote:

Mayo in this recipe does replace some amount of eggs. Most cc cookies recipes use more than one.
I'm more curious about corn starch addition. It usually makes cookies more crunchy. But I'm willing to try.

Not a fan of the Kewpie Mayo. It's way to salty for my taste.

Not as chewy as Alton Brown’s recipe that uses bread flour. The increased level of gluten creates a very chewy texture.

PinkFridge

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 3:36 pm

Amarante wrote:

I have the cookbook in digital format and would be happy to send you an ebook copy or just the table of contents.

That's ok, I have some other cookbooks to have fun with (America's Test Kitchen Boards) and more than enough recipes.
I haven't tasted them yet. They look like any oil-based cc cookies I make, like Levana Kirschenbaum's. Good to know if I'm low on oil.
I wonder how homemade mayo works in these recipes, like the Duncan Hines choc. mayo cake.

PinkFridge

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 3:36 pm

egam wrote:

I thought cornstarch keeps them soft.

PinkFridge

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 3:41 pm

Amarante wrote:

Not as chewy as Alton Brown’s recipe that uses bread flour. The increased level of gluten creates a very chewy texture.

Bread flour. Now that's interesting.
I just looked at the recipe. I guess if I'm ever out of all the other flour.

Here's a ww recipe, actually pretty good:
https://jewishfoodexperience.c.....kies/

About the author: https://www.powells.com/book/s.....31320

Amarante

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 4:15 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

I thought cornstarch keeps them soft.

Cornstarch is an ingredient that has multiple results depending on how it is used.

I am most familiar with cornstarch in Chinese cooking. It is critical to a good result as it is used to "velvet" the protein as well as thicken the sauce by creating a slurry. Unlike flour cornstarch thickens without needing to be cooked for a long period of time but too much and you will wind up with thick gloppy sauces.

I have also used it in some breading recipes and it creates a really delicious light but crispy crust. The Asian style fried chicken uses cornstarch instead of flour or even panko in some recipes. Also mayo can be used as the "liquid" when breading. I used to make a simple flounder dish using a mixture of mayonnaise and parmesan cheese on top.

I googled for cornstarch in cookie recipes and it is used to increase chewiness

Cornstarch isn’t used as a thickening agent in cookies, but it does have a very important purpose. When a recipe calls for cornstarch, it’s basically going to be there to help provide structure.

You can use cornstarch to ensure that the cookies that you’re baking have the necessary structure to be enjoyed. It helps to hold the cookies together, and it can also be used to give baked goods the right consistency.

Sometimes, bakers will combine cornstarch with certain types of flour. When cornstarch combines with different types of flour it can help to create a dessert that is both light and chewy.

This means that cornstarch is a very good ingredient when you want to bake chewy cookies. Certain types of cookies are meant to be very chewy, and cornstarch is a common ingredient in those.

Last edited by Amarante on Fri, Aug 19 2022, 4:20 pm; edited 1 time in total

Amarante

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 4:18 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

The original Alton Brown television show "Good Eats" was one of the ways I went down the rabbit hole of becoming interested in learning how to cook. There is an episode called Three Chips For Sister Sara which used cake flour, AP flour and bread flour based on the gluten content.

That was back in the day when the cooking shows actually taught how to cook instead of the circuses they are now. I remember what a revelation it was when I learned the technique to to dice an onion. Smile

hodeez

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 4:19 pm

Amarante wrote:

I used to love Alton brown! And I agree food network is utter nonsense now. Speaking of, what in the world happened to the Discovery channel?? So sad:/

Amarante

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 4:31 pm

hodeez wrote:

I used to love Alton brown! And I agree food network is utter nonsense now. Speaking of, what in the world happened to the Discovery channel?? So sad:/

PBS still has America's Test Kitchen but that is a bit boring for me now

But 20 years ago the Food Network really had some awesome shows for people who wanted to learn basic cooking skills. Do you remember when Sarah Moulton had her show - that is DNA going back to Julia Child.

Ina Garten was fabulous as well.

Christopher Kimball was fired from the Cook's Illustrated company and went on to form Milk Street which has some very good cookbooks.

hodeez

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 5:12 pm

Amarante wrote:

My mom always had a special place for Barefoot Contessa in her heart, I think bc Ina's husband was Jewish. She was fun to watch but I don't think I had access to a single one of her ingredients aside from salt and pepper. I actually learned to chop from Rachael ray!

Amarante

Fri, Aug 19 2022, 5:14 pm

hodeez wrote:

Ina is also Jewish - her maiden name is Rosenberg.

That is odd about her ingredients because her recipes are typically pretty straightforward American takes on comfort food.

They are reliably excellent for basic dishes/

Melissa Clark who is a younger food writer is also Jewish and grew up in Brooklyn. I add this because her recipes tend to be more "fusion" than Ina's and she has discussed how her taste in food was formed by the swirl of food cultures she ate as a child in Brooklyn - she isn't kosher but neither is Ina.