Whenever I flip through my cookbooks trying to decide what to make each week, I always have a hard time narrowing it down. There are so many cookies that I want to try. Often it simply comes down to which recipe I have the ingredients for. A couple weeks ago, I came across this recipe for sour cream chocolate chip cookies. Now doesn’t that sound amazing? I would have made them right away, but of course I didn’t have any sour cream. That’s not something I usually have on-hand. So I added it to my shopping list and found something else to make instead. So this week, I was all set to make them! Imagine my surprise when I gave the recipe a more thorough read-through and saw that it also calls for raisins. Which I also don’t have. I still haven’t bought any since the last time I needed them and had to substitute currants because I didn’t have raisins. Oops. I really wanted to make these cookies, though, so I decided to just skip the raisins altogether and increase the amount of chocolate instead. Sound like a good compromise? I thought so.
This starts out as a pretty standard cookie dough, but once the sour cream is added it gets really fluffy – almost silky in texture. I usually mix inclusions in by hand, but this dough was so soft I had no problem simply folding them in with a spatula. I almost expected them to just completely spread out in the oven, but they held their shape really well, spreading out just enough and puffing up.
Once baked, the resulting cookie is still fluffy and soft and so moist, not to mention loaded with chocolate chips. There’s not a chance of getting a bite without any chocolate in it. Everyone really loved this cookie, including me.
sour cream chocolate chip cookies
Adapted from The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle. The original recipe says it will make about 58 cookies. I got 72 cookies using my usual slightly larger than tablespoon-sized cookie scoop.
ingredients
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (110g) firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (120g) sour cream
1 cup (120g) coarsely chopped toasted walnuts
3 cups (525g) semisweet chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
To toast the nuts, spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for approximately 10 minutes, turning them every few minutes or so to cook evenly. Trust your senses – they'll start to smell fragrant when they're ready. You can do this step and then set them aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Once cool, chop them coarsely, or break them up into pieces by hand.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 or 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add the vanilla and sour cream, and beat again to incorporate.
Turn the mixer down to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until just barely combined. Remove from the mixer and fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips with a spatula. Normally I prefer to knead inclusions in by hand to ensure they're distributed evenly, but this dough is really soft and easy to work with.
Form the dough into small balls and place about 2" apart on a baking sheet – these cookies will spread out as they bake. Press the balls down slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake for about 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
Using a small cookie dough scoop or a tablespoon, portion the dough onto the baking sheets about 2 inches apart to allow for spreading.
Bake for about 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden brown around the edges, rotating the baking sheet halfway through the baking time. Allow to cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before removing the cookies from the pan and allowing them to cool completely.
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