Lazarus Chocolate Chunk Cookies

There are a million and one ways to make a chocolate chip cookie. You've either tried them all and are still looking, or you've found a recipe you like so much that you quit looking. I'm in the middle of the two, and when a customer of my dad's gave him a recipe for chocolate chips cookies along with a sample (a long time ago), I knew I needed to try this other version.

You have probably heard of it before. The version I made is called Lazarus Chocolate Chunk Cookies, also known as the Neiman-Marcus cookie. What makes it different from other recipes is the addition of oat flour which gives the cookie complexity without changing the texture too much. Along with chocolate chunks (or chips), melted chocolate gets swirled into the dough.

I added a tablespoon of instant espresso powder to the dough, and I suggest you do the same. You could also sprinkle the tops with coarse salt and sub some of the all-purpose flour for bread flour, a la the NYT chocolate chip cookie. Perhaps in place of instant espresso powder you could add freshly ground coffee to the dough like I did in for the NYT cookies. Possibilities are endless. I'm constantly merging recipes to find my ultimate recipe, so I play around a lot.

The oat flour is what does it for me. I was so impressed by the flavor and chewy texture back when I first tried this recipe that I started experimenting with oat flour in other recipes, like a biscotti recipe I need to blog about, and my recently posted oatmeal scones. Because of the chips and melted chocolate, this cookies packs an intense chocolatey punch. Next time, I'd use more brown sugar than white because I like a deeper molasses-like flavor in the dough portion.

So, even if you have already found your favorite go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, I urge you to give this recipe a try. It may not replace your favorite recipe, but it will give you another option for when you want a cookie with a little more substance.

Recipe after jump.

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Lazarus Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe from various sources on the internet

Ingredients -

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups oats, ground to a flour in the food processor)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
4 ounces melted milk chocolate chips

Directions -

1. Preheat oven to 375°; line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oat flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.


2. In a large bowl, beat butter with both sugars until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined. Add espresso powder and vanilla and mix just until combined. Using a large wooden spoon or spatula, stir in the flour mixture until a few streaks of flour remain. Add the chocolate chips and melted chocolate, stirring until chips are mixed throughout dough. Chill in refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.


3. Portion out 1-2 tablespoon portions onto prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1-2 inches of space in between dough balls. Press down with palm of your hand until the cookies form 1/2-inch thick disks. Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until tops of cookies are just set and edges have browned slightly. Let cool on baking sheet for 10 minute, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

NYT Chocolate Chip Cookies

Time for some literary eats. Everyone's been talking about the New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies since the recipe came out... Two years ago. Better late than never!

The concept of these cookies is the extremely long rest time, at least 24 hours and up to 36. The idea is that the flavors have a chance to meld, giving the cookies an enhances caramel-toffee flavor, and the flour absorbs the liquid to achieve the proper texture in the baked cookie, which is slightly crunchy on the edges that give way to a chewy and tender center. To literally top this off, a sprinkling of sea salt goes on top of the pre-baked cookies to balance the sweet.

So you know I like coffee, more so than what's considered normal. Well, I decided to mix ground coffee into the dough to give a better depth of flavor. I was aiming for a chocolate-covered coffee bean sort of effect. I used SBUX Natural Fusions Caramel since the flavor seemed appropriate. I started off with a mere 2 tablespoons. After I tasted the dough, it was just so good that I couldn't stop myself from adding 2 more tablespoons. I knew immediately I went a little overboard because it tinted the batter a shade of gray. Also, while the flavor of the coffee grounds does compliment the cookie (after a 48 hour refrigeration rest), at 72 hours the coffee got a little bitter. So, I would definitely suggest not adding more than 2 tablespoons.

My first test batch was proof that these were something special. The cookies came out perfectly round (I used an 1/8th cup measuring cup, flattened slightly, and baked for 14 minutes) and evenly brown. I also didn't have any cake flour so I just used all-purpose, and regular semisweet chocolate chips.

Now the recipe says the dough can be refrigerated up to 72 hours. Are they assuming you'll have baked the dough up in three days? Has no one survived the 72-hour time period because they died from overconsumption of cookies? WHAT HAPPENS? All I know is that I'll find out, because the dough has been in the fridge for four days now...

These definitely are worth the hype surrounding the recipe, and I will be making adjustments to merge this with another favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe to see how that works. For now, I have more cookies to eat.

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NYT Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe from NYT Online

ingredients ~

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 tablespoons freshly ground coffee
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)
Sea salt.

directions ~

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.


2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.


3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.


4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

i want s'mores cookies

There's this s'mores cookie that's been up on the foodie blog world for a while now, but I never seem to have all the ingredients needed at one time, like graham crackers (the crumbs are mixed into cookie dough) and Hershey bars for the top. The cookie is probably the best creation since that lady created the chocolate chip cookie, and there's nothing that says summer like a burnt marshmallow sandwich!

My idea to create a spin-off version was to modify a homemade graham cracker recipe, add chocolate chips, then freeze the mini mallows as per the directions in the regular recipe and top the cookies with them two minutes before the cookies are finished baking. The recipe I based mine from, found on Smitten Kitchen, calls for the butter to be cut into the flour mixture, which I didn't do for whatever reason, but might try next time just because dedicated readers know how much I hate waiting for butter to come to room temperature. In fact, total truth, I softened the butter in the microwave on medium power for 15 second. (Ha. I typed "minutes" first.)

By using some whole wheat flour in place of the white flour, I hoped the graham cracker flavor would stand out more, though since I used white whole wheat the flavor was more subdued than it might have been had I used regular whole wheat. The cookie mostly tasted like a chocolate chip cookie with a bit more depth of flavor with marshmallows on top.

For the shape, I divided the dough in half and shaped them into square logs, chilled, and cut into slices. The cookies looked more like a graham cracker, even if they don't really mimic the flavor.

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s'mores cookies
Recipe by Christina Provo

ingredients ~

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg, room temperature
4 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
mini marshmallows (I honestly have no idea how many I used, but I do know that I used 5 marshmallows per cookie, so just use half the bag at first)

directions ~

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Whisk the espresso powder with the milk in a small bowl until completely dissolved.


2. In a large bowl, beat the butter with the brown sugar for 3 minutes on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Pour in the espresso-milk mixture and blend until mixed. Stir in half the flour mixture; stir in the remaining flour until a few traces of flour remain, then add the chocolate chips and stir to combine.


3. Divide the dough in half equally. Place one half on a sheet of wax paper and press into a square log, about 2-inches wide (and what might be 12-inches long, but I really didn't pay attention). Refrigerate logs until firm, or freeze if you can't wait.


4. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350° and place half a bag of marshmallows in a bowl and place in the freezer.


5. When ready to bake, slice log into uniform slices, about 1/4-inch thick. Turn the log after each slice to help maintain the shape. Place about 1 1/2-inches apart of a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and quickly press 5 marshmallows on the tops of each cookie. Bake for an additional 2 minutes.


6. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack and cool for 3-5 minutes; transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.

chocolate chiperoos

Everyone has a recipe that's been in their family for ages, be it an actual family recipe or one that's been given to you by a friend. This recipe for chocolate chip cookies is from a friend of my mom's, and had been by go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe before I wanted to branch out and find which version I liked the best. My search is far from over, and I'll always be curious enough to try out different versions and techniques, but going back to basics (with a few new tricks I've discovered) has shown me that sometimes the best is what you've always had.

What's different about these cookies from all others? For one, the use of all brown sugar instead of part granulated sugar, which lends a chewier texture and more flavors of caramel. Secondly, two spices are present, cinnamon and ginger, which lends a depth to the caramel without totally dominating. Thirdly, you roll the cookie balls in confectioners' sugar before baking. This really adds more flavor than you'd think. The original recipe also states to let the dough chill for at least an hour, and though it's probably more because it prevents the cookies from spreading out too much, it's funny considering the current trend of letting the dough rest to develop the flavors.

My changes were relatively minor, and I feel they help improve an already delicious cookie instead of differing the heart of the recipe. For half the flour I used bread flour, I replace half the butter with shortening (gasp all you want, cry in terror, it's just that I never could get these cookies not to overly spread until I used half shortening, though feel free to use all butter), added one teaspoon of instant espresso powder and increased the salt by a quarter teaspoons. Also, I sprinkled a bit of kosher salt on top of the cookie balls, too.

These cookies are every bit, and more, as delicious a chocolate chip cookie as any other. Their simplicity is what really shines through, and the texture just can't be beat. The spices really make the cookies, though the confectioners' coating the lingers in spots on the baked cookies makes for a delicious bite.

Try them out and see what you think for yourself!

Recipe after the jump

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chocolate chiperoos
Recipe adapted from a family friend

Makes about 48 small cookies

ingredients ~

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup confectioners' sugar, and more if needed
additional coarse salt

directions ~

1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours with baking soda, spices, and salt.


2. In a large bowl, beat the shortening and butter with the brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the egg and beat to mix, followed by the vanilla and espresso. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture just until combined, then stir in the chocolate chips until blended. Transfer dough to a container and chill for at least two hours.


3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the confectioners' sugar in a wide, shallow bowl or pie pan and place next to baking sheet. Portion out rounded tablespoons of cookie dough to fill sheet. Roll into balls, then roll until completely coated in sugar. Using the back of a spoon or your thumb, make a shallow indent on the top of the balls and sprinkle a few grains of coarse salt on top.


4. Bake for 11 minutes, until tops are just set and edges are barely beginning to brown. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack, cookies still on baking sheet, and let cool for 10 minutes before transferring cookies from the sheet to the rack to completely cool. Repeat process with remaining dough.

thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies

I detract my previous statement of man being able to live on bread alone. Man also needs cookies. With chocolate chips and dried cranberries, which I believe covers all bases.

While I normally prefer to make a Sugar Plum recipe, I opted for the really quick thick and chewy chocolate chip recipe from America's Test Kitchen. Calling for melted butter and a higher amount of brown sugar than white, the recipe promises a cookie that stays thick and isn't crispy. The cookies are also not completely baked in the oven, as they are allowed to rest for 10 minutes on the baking sheet post-baking to continue cooking at a gentler rate.

Naturally, I figured if I was melting the butter I would also brown it. I didn't. I had just gotten back from a run and wanted a cookie NOW. These hit the spot, and compared to a normal chocolate chip, these were better. However, I felt that the flavor wasn't as complex as I have grown accustomed to, and the chewiness of the cookie seemed to disappear overnight, becoming alarmingly in that limbo state of staleness and freshness where the cookie goes from deliciously fresh to unimpressively okay, despite being stored properly, the next day. A plus for this recipe is that you don't have to chill the dough to prevent them from spreading out if you lack the time.

A few days later I made the Alton Brown "the chewy" recipe. While very similar to the ATK recipe, the leavening ingredients were a bit different (double what this had), it calls for bread flour instead of all-purpose (can't recall if I did that), uses a higher ratio of brown sugar to white than this recipe did, uses 4 tablespoons more butter (whether I did used two full stick or not, I can't recall), and had 2 tbsp milk (which I left out). By the time I made this recipe, I didn't want to use an egg and an egg yolk (ATK says the fat from the extra yolk contribute to the chewiness), so I used two whole eggs, omitting the two tablespoons of milk with no issue.

Knowing that this recipe would still taste similar to the ATK recipe, I set out to Em-alize the Brown recipe by a) browning the butter, b) adding a teaspoon of instant yeast, b) keeping the baking soda at 1/2 teaspoon (I think) but using the full teaspoon of kosher salt, and c) refrigerating the dough overnight. The resulting cookies were much more caramelized, had better depth of flavors, and seemed to stay chewier longer. The Brown recipe bakes at 375 degrees instead of the 325 that the ATK recipe bakes at, and I felt it browned them a little too much. I did use the same technique of just baking the cookies until set and letting them rest on the sheet for 10 minutes.

So what I mean to say by all this is that I'd definitely make this recipe again if I took the few extra steps of converting it to a Sugar Plum-esque recipe, which really is the best chocolate chip cookie I've made to date. No, she's not paying me to say this. I do not receive a cookie per word of adulation I speak on her behalf. Nothing. At all.

I'm over it, I can also bake. *sniff*

Recipe after jump.

thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies
From The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

My notes: I used 12 oz of chocolate chips instead of the 9 oz called for in the recipe, along with no more than 2 oz of leftover dried cranberries I had. This stretched the dough out to get about a dozen more cookies than the 2 dozen stated. Also, each cookie is 2 tablespoons of dough, which makes a nice looking cookie, though normally I make 1 tablespoon cookies because they are a better snacking size. If you do this, you'll have double the amount of cookies.

Makes about 24 cookies

ingredients ~

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (I recommend using a coarse salt)
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed light brown sugar (I almost never use light brown sugar in anything since I usually only have dark)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I increased this to a tablespoon in the Sugar Plum version)
1 1/2 cups (9 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

directions ~

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position (I didn't) and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.


2. In a large bowl, beat the melted butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.


3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Mix in the chips until incorporated.


4. Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls and lay them on the prepped baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until the edges are set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through baking.


5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

chocolate chip cookie taste test

The whole reason for this taste test was because I messed up. Sure, I could blame it on watching a baseball game, or browsing the internet (I often bring my laptop into the kitchen), but when it takes you 40 minutes to prep ingredients you're probably bound to make mistakes.

Fortunately, I think it was that type of revolutionary breakthrough mistake! Ha. So, I set out to make the chocolate chip cookies in the Once Upon A Tart cookbook. The difference between this recipe and the Nestle version is all brown sugar instead of part white (it actually asks for light brown sugar, but I only had dark), half a stick more butter, more flour, and an increase in the baking soda and salt due to the obvious flour increase. They weren't setting out to reinvent the timeless chocolate chip cookie, but create a simple version of a classic.

My mistake started back when I let myself be sidetracked. You see, I meant to halve the recipe, which I did except for the chocolate chips, the baking soda, and the salt. Well, I didn't realize this until after I had eaten one and remarked on the amazing caramel-esque flavor, the fact that the cookies, made with dough that had not been chilled, didn't spread to the thinness of a dime, and that they had a special taste that you don't often taste in typical recipes.

These are some of the first batch after having refrigerated for 2 days. They still came out the same as the first day. While they didn't spread as much and as a result were thicker, they weren't cakey but still chewy.

The cookies were loaded with chocolate chips, which I thought would upset the dough-to-chip balance. Thankfully, it didn't.

Let's talk about salt: You definitely could taste that there was more salt, yet it was not salty. In fact, I feel (and so do two others) that the extra salt brought out the flavor of the cookie more and gave it some depth otherwise not present.

You can see how this batch, made with the correct amount of all ingredients, spread more, even after having chilled for a day. Since it had been chilled, however, they didn't spread out too much. In the dough, you could taste more of the vanilla extract. Not in the finished cookie, though, and the taste was standard.

The general consensus was that the cookies with extra salt and baking soda contributed a "how can I replicate this at home/why don't my cookies taste like this?" that I thought were even better than the cookies where I didn't mess up.

So. I don't know what to tell you. You could try out my wacky version to see if I'm cracked, or you could follow the recipe as stated to create regular chocolate chip cookies. I hope you appreciate that I made two batches to test the difference just for you, although you didn't get to eat any of them!

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Best Big Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Once Upon A Tart

Makes 18 big cookies or 54 smaller cookies

ingredients ~
20 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder (my addition)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (or 3 teaspoons)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or 3 teaspoons)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips; or 12 ounces good-quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces (or doubled the amount)

directions ~

1. Position your oven racks so that one is in the center, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.


2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a big bowl, using the whisk attachment of an electric mixer on high speed (or a sturdy wire whisk), until they are fluffy and light lemon-yellow in color, about 5 minutes. Mix in espresso powder. With the mixer on low speed, beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.


3. In a separate, medium-size bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Gradually add this to wet ingredients, using the paddle attachment of your mixer on low speed )or stirring with a wooden spoon) until no flour is visible. Then stir in the chocolate chips.


4. To make big cookies, use a 1/3-cup measuring cup or your hand (eyeballing for size) to scoop out the dough. Roll the dough for each cookie between your hands into a ball. Have some flour handy to dust your hands in case the dough is too stick to work with. Place the balls on your baking sheet (greased or lined with parchment), leaving 2 inches between them, and flatten each with the heel of your hand until it is about 4 inches in diameter. To make smaller cookies, use a poon to scoop up the dough and your finger to scrape it onto the baking sheet. Drop the cookies 1 1/2 inches apart -- no flattening necessary.


5. Place the baking sheet on the center rack in the oven, and bake the cookies for 18-20 minutes (10-12 minutes for smaller cookies), or until the cookie centers no longer have the shiny look of raw dough.


6. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, and place on a wire rack to cool slightly. Lift the baking sheet off the rack, and use a metal spatula to lift the cookies off the sheet and onto the rack to cool completely. If you're using parchment paper, there's no need to let the cookies cool on the rack. Slight the paper with the hot cookies off the baking sheet and onto a flat surface to cool.