2009 April 19 | dinner with Julie

Archive for April 19th, 2009

Maple Walnut White Chocolate Chip Cookies

People, I think I may have just discovered my new favourite cookie. (Or at the very least, cookie dough.) OK, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here. These are at the very least in the running, or in the top ten. I’m not speaking out of lust here – I mean I am, but this love is going to last forever. (This time I mean it. And these cookies can’t ever change their minds about loving me back. Perhaps I could just have an affair with them on the side, whenever I tire of the classic chocolate chip kind?)

Except that I still haven’t tried David’s 36-hour cookies yet. Am waiting for company as backup.

Really, you could revamp any chocolate chip cookie recipe to make a maple-walnut-white chocolate version. You could conceivably use maple sugar, but that would be pricey and brown sugar actually does well to mimic maple when paired with syrup or extract. Trade 1/4 cup brown sugar for maple syrup (you couldn’t switch it all, as maple syrup is very much a liquid), and/or use maple extract in place of the vanilla. Swap white chocolate chips or chunks for the semi-sweet, and add some chopped walnuts. Et Voila!

Point of note: A lot of people think they don’t like walnuts because they are bitter. I used to be one of them. But here’s a revelation: walnuts should not be the least bit bitter – they should be lovely and mellow and sweet. If they are bitter, they’re rancid, and you need to toss them out and find yourself a new walnut source.

Maple Walnut White Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (not flavoured pancake syrup)
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla or maple extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup each white chocolate chips/chunks and chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar and maple syrup until well combined — the mixture will have the consistency of wet sand. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Add the flour, baking soda and salt (stir them together first only if you want to) to the butter-sugar mixture and stir by hand until almost combined; add white chocolate and walnuts and stir just until blended. It may seem dry at this point – I always find it easiest to get in there with my hands toward the end.

Drop spoonfuls of dough (or roll rough walnut-sized balls) about 2” apart on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Flatten each a little with your hand, just to give them a head start. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until pale golden and set around the edges but still soft in the middle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 20 cookies.