Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Otis Spunkmeyer Style

Guess where I'm currently writing this blog post from! You'll never guess. Drumroll please....... The Portland International Airport! Indeed, I am here at my gate waiting for my flight back to Los Angeles, and since PDX is really one of the best airports around, they provide free wifi access! Yes!

Today at home, I decided to try out yet another chocolate chip recipe to leave for my family as a sort of departing gift. And since I found myself dreaming of those Otis Spunkmeyer cookies we had in high school yet again (hey, I saw a Spunkmeyer truck. I don't always just randomly dream about those cookies.), I decided to see if they had the recipe online. I mean, you can find anything online these days. Pretty much every site that has the supposed Spunkmeyer recipe, lists it as I have below.

Otis Spunkmeyer Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies by freshfromthe.com

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Otis Spunkmeyer version
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 (12 ounce) package chocolate chips (2 cups)
1 cup chopped walnuts

Combine flour and baking powder in a small bowl, mix with a whisk, and set aside.

Melt butter and shortening together. Mix together both sugars, salt and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and pour melted butter mixture over. Beat well. Add each egg separately, beating until creamy. Add flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time while beating.

Refrigerate for 1 hour in a covered bowl.

Preheat oven to 375° Drop cookies by large rounded tablespoonful onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

 If I hadn't told you I was in Portland, the presence of a Kitchenaid mixer should give you a clue. This is the cream the butter and vegetable shortening (aka Crisco) together step.


After the sugars have been added.

And the eggs.

 And finally, the flour, baking powder and salt. I actually used a half teaspoon of sea salt rather than the full teaspoon of regular salt, mostly because the butter I had was salted already, and I couldn't find the regular salt to use!

And with the chocolate chips! Mmmmm...

Some waiting to go in, the first batch out of the oven next to it. For the first batch, I just baked the cookies regularly for 12 minutes, for the second, I used my mom's nifty convection option on her oven, and the cookies baked up in 9 minutes. And that pan above is really the best pan - it's old and thick and works better than a lot of the newer ones they claim to be awesome.

A more up close picture of the first batch, regularly baked.

And here's the second batch. You can see they are slightly darker, it's because I had them in for 10 minutes instead of the recommended 9 for convection ovens. What can I say, this convection thing is new to me!

The verdict? I may have to get back to you. I had one when it was out of the oven for a few minutes, and it had a little bit of a crunch when first bitten into, then got softer on the inside. Really cookies are better tested the next day, to see if they have staying power. If these stand the next day test, they may be the winners! They have the refrigeration step, which I think is important, and look to keep their shape rather than spread out a lot, which is partially to do with the refrigeration, and partially to do with the vegetable shortening. Next time maybe I'll try them with just butter and see how they turn out. They also call for A LOT more vanilla than normal, and ask for baking powder rather than baking soda. A bunch of small differences to make a big impact? Possibly!

9 comments:

  1. I'd like to think a stand mixer would propel me upwards in my baking skill set. Probably wishful thinking (but you never know)!

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  2. They really do make things a lot easier, I have to say!

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  3. So....did they stand the next day test??

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  4. Indeed! I think they are the current winners.

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  5. Remember in high school standing in line between classes and getting Otis Spunkmeyer cookies 4/$1? We did that a LOT! Good times...

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  6. Yeah those were my favorite cookies ever. And also when they'd have the strawberry frozen yogurt every now and then, with some french fries? Mmmm....

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  7. Is there a difference in the melt-butter-and-shortening method and what you did (ie, cream-butter-and-shortening) in the final result?

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  8. I would always recommend to just soften the butter before mixing it in, rather than melt. Shortening usually does not need to be melted because it is soft on its own. Since it's refrigerated before baking, though, it probably doesn't matter as much. If you forgo the refrigeration step, though, definitely do not fully melt the butter, or the cookies will spread out really thin.

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  9. Thanks! I'll definitely be making these soon. I've been on a cupcake decorating kick lately, that my husband actually told me that he misses cookies. :D

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