Sorry for the delay between posts. The dumb thing is I have been sitting on these cookies for almost a week. I keep telling myself I won’t whine about health issues anymore, but just to explain, we got hit by a second virus after the first, not a GI system one this time thank goodness, but it went through all of us one by one until finally ending with me. And poor Sammy got secondary bacterial infections from it. So things have been hectic around here.
Ever since falling in love with Lauren Chattman’s Cake Keeper Cakes, I had resolved to acquire more of her books (which really means going crazy with used book orders from Amazon). The latest one is Mom’s Big Book of Cookies. I confess that Chattman’s books are not what I would be attracted to on the surface normally. A friend of mine summed it up well–her books look great for the beginning baker that she was 10 years ago, but maybe not so much now. However, I have found that Chattman’s genius lies not just in her simplicity, but in the novelty of her simplicity. These cookies are a perfect example. There is nothing difficult about them–if you can make chocolate chip cookies you can obviously make these. But it just never would have occurred to me to put Rice Krispies in chocolate chip cookies.
Speaking of Rice Krispies, they are a weakness of mine. I love texture, and crispiness is one of my favorites. They are such a weakness, in fact, that I rarely bake with puffed rice. Entire pans of Rice Krispy Treats have been known to vanish under my supervision in less than a day. Which is why I knew I had to try this cookie when I saw it–and why I might not try it again.
Weirdly, these cookies are not that great when they first come out of the oven. Good, certainly, but they seemed kind of gimmicky. However, in marked contrast to any other chocolate chip cookies recipe I am familiar with, later that night they were fantastic. Chewy and crispy. My husband and I could not keep out of them, even on day 3 (by which point there were only a few left). The kids also pronounced them “delicio-SO!” (Alex’s latest compliment for food; she is obsessed with Spanish words).
Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Closely adapted from Lauren Chattman, Mom’s Big Book of Cookies
1 1/4 cups (158 g) AP flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted unsalted butter, cooled slightly
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (you can sub light, Chattman calls for light, but I find chocolate chip cookies made with all light brown sugar to be unattractively pale)
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 t vanilla
1 heaping cup chocolate chips (semisweet)
2 cups Rice Krispies cereal
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium size mixing bowl. Set aside.
Cream the cooled butter and sugars together (this can be done by hand or with a mixer at this point). Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture until the flour is mostly incorporated. Add the chips and stir until the flour and chips are completely incorporated.
Switching to stirring by hand, add the Rice Krispies and stir and fold until the Krispies are evenly distributed, taking care not to break the rice puffs. Cover the dough with wax paper and place in the fridge for anywhere from 10 minutes to 6 hours (I did about 3-4 hours).
Drop the dough by the heaping tablespoon onto the baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between cookies. You could also freeze the dough at this point and bake later. I got approximately 24 cookies from the recipe. Bake the cookies until they are golden around the edges but still soft and slightly under-done in the middle, 10-12 minutes (expect 1-2 minutes longer for frozen balls of dough). Let the cookies cool an additional 5 minutes on the sheets, then transfer them to a cooling rack. If you bake both sheets at once be sure to rotate them top to bottom and front to back halfway through.
Joan says
I've made a similar cookie that calls for cornflakes. I will try your recipe. Sounds good!
HoneyB says
I made cookies this weekend too! I actually was thinking the next cookies I make now will be chocolate chip 🙂
Joanne says
I feel like as bloggers we sometimes get too caught up in what is complicated. There is definitely something to be said for a simple and delicious recipe! The cookies sound great.
grace says
boo to sickness! i hope it's all finished now, for good!
rice krispies are an awesome yet unexpected addition to cookies–great idea!
Lynda says
Sorry you've had so much sickness-spring needs to hurry up and come so we can have some fresh air and sunshine!
I made cookies too, but I've not made CCC with rice crispies before.
Very intriging and they look oh so good!
Elizabeth W says
Sorry Alex is sick again now too – what is wrong this time?
Sounds like she has been watcing too much Dora the Explorer (the world's dumbest show, and yet Fiona is fascinated by it).