Back Pocket Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Kitchen Try-Outs

My family has never been one to do that traditional Sunday-night-dinner-with-the-family/pot-roast/ham thingy, as we tend to get together whenever as opposed to a set day. But my sister had this GIANT (and I do mean GIANT) ham that she wanted to cook, and she couldn’t eat it all herself, so she invited the whole family over for Sunday dinner.

The DH, a meat-a-tarian living with a vegetarian (me) who is the primary cook in the household, was very happy! Especially when my sis sent us home with several containers of ham leftovers. (Have I mentioned how GIANT the ham was?) At any rate, my contribution to the dinner was dessert, and although I had wanted to make the latest Bake-a-Long recipe, I didn’t have one of the key ingredients, and so I made my Back Pocket Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Why do I call these Back Pocket Chocolate Chip Cookies? Because it’s a handy recipe to have in your back pocket! You can change up the ingredients (because I’m all about the substitutions), switching the white flour for whole wheat, swapping out the cream cheese for more butter, changing the nuts, cutting out the oats, adding in ground flax…the possibilities go on and on.

But enough, with the blathering, let’s make some cookies!

Back Pocket Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 tbsp. cream cheese
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/8 tsp. butter flavouring
• 2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/3 c. oats
• 1/2 chopped walnuts
• 1 c. choc. chips

Cream the butter, cream cheese, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and butter flavouring together until fluffy. Mix in the flour, oats, and baking soda. Stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Roll into balls and place on a greased cookie tray or a Silpat sheet, flatten slightly, and chill in the fridge for half an hour. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, or until tops verrrry lightly browned. Let cool and gobble up. Or bring to a family dinner party, like I did!

I tried out two things in this recipe that were new to me: using a Silpat sheet, and butter flavouring! I got the Silpat sheet as a Christmas gift, and was very delighted to see it. One always hears of the posh bakers and food bloggers using their Silpats (or their generic cousins), to reduce using of parchment paper and butter when baking cookies and such, so I wanted to see what the fuss was about.

My take on the worthiness of Silpat sheets? They’re nice. They’re useful. They haven’t changed my life. Anyone able to tell me why people rave about them? Let me know in the comments!

I also used another new-to-me product in this recipe, butter flavouring. I first read about it on the Southernplate website, and when I came across it in a store, I snapped it up to try. My impression after adding in 1/8 tsp. of the flavouring: butter flavouring? What? In other words, I was not terribly impressed. Perhaps I needed to use more?I generally like to eat pretty wholesomely, and adding in a flavouring made of chemicals is really not my bailiwick, but I thought I’d try something new. If you use butter flavouring, and you like it, let me know why and how to best utilize it!

Next Post: More Parisian flair, with a Brown Butter and Vanilla Bean Weekend Loaf! Made on a weekday. Because I don’t stick to your arbitrary baking rules.

Linking Up at Meal Plan Monday – Cookie Edition!