Author Notes
Double shifts at the restaurant are long, exhausting, and, at their worst, soul-robbing. (You restaurant people know what I mean.) The antidote? Cookies! When I first started bringing baskets of cookies to work, it was just a way for me dole out the excesses of my periodic baking fits. But it turns out that they also take the edge off of a difficult night, giving threadbare servers and cooks a little push to go on. They are at once a bite of comfort food and a shot of sugar-- just enough to help power through the rough spots. I cut the cookies into tiny squares so that they go down fast when there isn't any time to take a break (and there never really is). I make all kinds of cookies to take to work, but this is the recipe I make the most often. These cookies are fast, easy, and have just a tiny bit of cinnamon to make them subtly interesting and a perfect match for the milk chocolate. I'm not sure if my co-workers will remember these exact cookies, but maybe they'll remember the cloth-lined basket piled high with sweet little squares of motivation to power them through the night.
—vvvanessa
Ingredients
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3/4 cup
/6 ounces unsalted butter at room temperature
-
1 cup
/8 ounces packed light brown sugar
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1/2 cup
/ 3.5 ounces granulated sugar
-
2
large eggs at room temperature
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2 teaspoons
pure vanilla extract
-
3/4 teaspoon
table salt
-
2 1/4 cups
/ 9.5 ounces all-purpose flour
-
1/2 teaspoon
baking soda
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1/2 teaspoon
baking powder
-
1/2 teaspoon
ground cinnamon
-
8 ounces
milk chocolate, chopped into chunks
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350ºF.
-
Line a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish or similarly sized jelly roll pan with a sheet of parchment that overlaps the long edges of the pan.
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In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars until they are well combined. Don't overbeat them so that they become too aerated.
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Add in the eggs, vanilla, and salt, and mix until combined.
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Sprinkle the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon evenly over the wet mixture. Stir until combined, being sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
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Add in the chocolate chunks and mix in thoroughly.
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Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake in the center of the oven for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pan about 15 minutes into cooking. The cookies are done when the top has browned slightly and just starts to feel firm.
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Remove the cookies from the oven. Using the flaps of parchment, carefully wiggle the cookie to loosen it from the edges of the pan and lift it out and over to a cooling rack. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes.
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Invert the sheet of cookies onto a cutting board, then peel away the parchment. Before the cookies are completely cooled, cut the cookies into small, even bars and allow to cool further if necessary.
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