Ros Rants was initially going to be a separate website filled with things I wanted to rant or rave about, but this site already exists and I don’t blog so frequently that people who read this blog will be outraged by different programming. So, in between any professional musings, you’ll also get a few Ros Rants.
First Up! Ros Rants about The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie
Spoiler alert: I took to baking a LOT during quarantine, so a lot of the raves will most likely be food/baking related, which is kinda weird to find on a marketing/professional blog, but 2020 has been such a weird year that I’m thinking why not?
So, the title was a bit misleading because as a true ENTP, I don’t typically think in superlatives—especially when it comes to delicious treats—there’s always room for more. So, it should come as no surprise that I have 4 “best” chocolate chip cookie recipes that I love. How do I have 4, you ask? Because I reach for each one for different occasions. Full disclosure: I’m not a half-baked cookie dough person, so while there are some cookies that land on the chewier side, these cookies are all fully baked.
- The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie for an Ice Cream Sandwich: Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookie from Sally’s Baking Addiction
The Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookie from Sally’s Baking Addiction is the best chocolate cookie to use if you want to use cookies for an ice cream sandwich. Why? Because they’re solid enough to hold the sandwich but chewy enough to stay intact without crumbling when you bite into it. The texture is perfect. Also, I love Sally’s blog because she gives you the science behind her recipes. I always learn something new. Like, when a cookie recipe calls for more brown sugar than white, it’ll be softer because the texture of brown sugar is softer. Sally drops gems like this in every recipe. Check her out.
- The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie that I Don’t have to Bake: The Cookie Society
The Cookie Society is special to me for a few reasons. Not only are these guys Dallas-based, but this black-owned small business opened a storefront int he middle of the COVID-19 crisis and y’all know I love the audacity of that. Plus, the cookies are delicious! I’ve sent batches to several folks as thank you gifts and birthday gifts because they ship nationwide. Oh, and, I’m not the only one who’s obsessed—they sell out frequently, so get some if you can!
- The Best Standalone Chocolate Chip Cookie (and Most Controversial): Alison Roman’s Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookie
Okay, I may get some flack for this, but man, the cookie, is THAT COOKIE. And by “The Cookie” I mean, Alison Roman’s Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookie. You may or may not know, Alison got into some hot water for some wild things she said, but this is not about that, or about her, it’s about this crazy, delicious cookie. My biggest gripe with chocolate chip cookies has always been that you end up with some bites that are super-chocolatey, maybe even too chocolatey, then sometimes you get a bite that has no chocolate at all. I prefer a more consistent dough-to-chip ratio, which is just not gonna happen when you use chocolate chips. For this shortbread cookie, you chop up a bar of baking chocolate, which gives you a more even distribution of chocolate throughout. And, that makes it technically not a chocolate chip cookie, but it’s my list, so… I don’t like this cookie with ice cream because it’s a true shortbread cookie and you don’t want anything to overshadow its goodness—especially when you use a nice baking chocolate bar—I’m partial to Scharffen Berger Bittersweet Chocolate Bar or Guittard Bittersweet Baking Chocolate.
- The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie for Sharing: Gabrielle McBay’s One Cookie Dough
For my birthday this year, I wanted to do something different and send gifts to the folks I love, and a lot of the folks I love have been quarantined with their little ones for a long time so I wanted to give them a little relief by providing an activity that would be fun for the whole fam. So, I decided to send little cookie kits: homemade cookie dough plus some little baggies of sprinkles and other in-its for them to add their special touch before popping into the oven. Thankfully I had just participated in this amazing one-week cookbook challenge by one of my favorite Dallas chefs, Gabby McBay. Another ambitious endeavor, Gabby polled her social media followers and took the feedback to make this cookbook, “You Have Food at Home” in just a week. Of course, I purchased the digital version AND the print version which has some bonus recipes. Inside, I discovered the amazingly simple “One Cookie Dough”—an easy cookie dough that’s flexible enough to turn into a chocolate chip cookie, peanut butter cookie or whatever you want—it’s perfect to send little customizable packs to my peeps! I’ve been a Gabby fan for a while, she has a few digital cookbooks and a lot of free recipe tutorials on Youtube. Keep track of her projects on Instagram.
- BONUS: The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie I Have to Keep in Stock: DoubleTree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookie
So, there’s one cookie that earned an honorable mention on my chocolate chip cookie list. Admittedly, this isn’t my favorite chocolate chip cookie. However, the Famous DoubleTree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookie is the most requested cookie I’ve turned out during quarantine. I’ve been commissioned to make this cookie so many times that I’ve decided to keep the dough in the freezer so I can make them on demand–and when I say demand, I meant it. People who love this cookie are true fiends and if you make them once, be ready to make them over and over and over again.