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Nothing beats a tea party with home made chocolate chip cookies!
The Amazing Cookbook by The New York Times Food Writer and Minimalist Mark Bittman
So, my kids made me cry today. Yep, they pulled out the strongest weapon a child can weld against a parent! They tugged on my heart strings through my memory!
My daugher and I were doing some exercise in the basement, escaping the summer heat, and while I was finishing up with a stretch, my youngest pulls out her old tea set and says, “Mommy, we should have a tea party, just like we used to!.”
Now, this is not any tea set. My mother is English, and each grand daughter was given an amazing bone china tea set in real wicker basket with hand embroidered linen napkins on their first or second birthday. We have two in our home and they are priceless and wonderful and used to make my heart sing when my girlies would have their biscuits and hot chocolate and set up the table at tea time!
So, when my 13 year old daughter asked to have tea, I had to pause for a few minutes to take a deep breath and whip away the tears! Then, I formed a plan! Why not have HER pick out the Bittman recipe of the week to serve at the tea party!
Of course, she picked out a cookie recipe! It was between shortbread and chocolate chip cookies, and the cookies won!
We had a little bit of a power struggle when I told her I would be doing my best to “traditionalize” the recipe! She was OK with using whole wheat flour. Not so OK with adding in a few table spoons of yogurt and leaving the batter over night to sour. She wanted her cookies NOW. So, in an effort to prevent a major blow up, I baked a dozen cookies to soothe her and we had two tea parties! One the first day, and since it was so much fun we got dressed to the nines and did it again after the second batch came out on day two! I highly recommend having a tea party on tiny tea plates with tiny tea cups and miniature knives and forks. It brings your inner child for a visit and that is always a good thing!
Basic Chocolate Chunk Cookies Page 880
Makes 3-4 Dozen (if you make them small, I certainly did not!
2 Sticks organic or raw butter softened
3/4 cup evaporated cane sugar
3/4 cup organic brown sugar (or another 3/4 cup evaporated cane sugar and 1 Tbs. organic molasses).
2 Pastured eggs
1/2 Tsp. sea salt
1/2 Tsp. Baking soda
2 Cups sprouted or organic whole wheat flour. Sift sprouted flour to make it as fluffy as possible
1 Heaping tbs. Organic full fat yogurt or Greek yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Cups cut up good chocolate. I used 2 cups Trader Joes real chocolate morsels but chopping up some semisweet or milk chocolate is what Bittman calls for. He did say do NOT use unsweetened or you will ruin all the cookies.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl Bittman says to use a hand mixer to beat the butter and sugar together. I cut the butter into the sugar with a knife and then used a wooden spoon (we are talking traditional here aren’t we folks?) Stir in the eggs one at a time until well blended and then stir in the vanilla.
In another bowl, fluff the flour along with the salt and baking soda. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry in small batches until well blended. Stir in the chocolate pieces. If you wish to reduce the phytic acid content in the batter, you can add in the 1 large TBS. of yogurt and omit the salt until 12 hours later or overnight. Cover batter with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator to “soak”. Since there is no real liquid other than the egg and butter, I felt refrigeration was necessary, so not sure how much of the phytic acid is neutralized, but I do know the cookies the second day were much more fluffy. This may be due to a reaction between the baking soda and the acidic portion of the yogurt. Whatever the reason, the batch the second day was better in my opinion, and I believe healthier for you too!
Drop by heaping tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets spacing about 3 inches apart. Due to the whole wheat, these cookies spread quite a bit, so make sure to really heap the batter UP and not out.
Bake on second rack for about 10-11 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and cooked through. Cool on the sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to completely cool. Store covered tightly for up to 2 days.
Well, after baking, my daughters picked flowers, spread the table cloth and set out the tiny china plates. We no longer have the tiny table they used to dine at, so the dining room table had to suffice. They had real tea this time instead of chocolate chips and they didn’t bring their teddy bears as guests, but to me, we were all five again and my heart about burst with joy!
Oh, ya, and the cookies were awesome too! 
Hugs all!
I highly recommend the book How to Cook Everything for ease of use and variety. Even the most traditional cook will get some amazing ideas from it. You can view more information on all Mark Bittman’s terrific cook books at my Stuff I Like on Amazon store, or by clicking the Amazon Banner at the bottom of this page. You can also find great information and more recipes from Mark at his website Mark Bittman, and of course, the New York Times.
This article was a part of the 12 Days of Bloggie-mas, Making it with Mondays, Simple Lives Thursday , Vegetarian Friends Friday, Foodie Friday, Friday Food at Momtrends, Food on Friday, I’m Lovin It Fridays, Wholesome Whole Foods Friday and Frugal Friday.
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July 22nd, 2010 on 12:02 pm
Lots of tips and treasures in this recipe! I’d like to try making it with coconut sugar, too. Thanks for the recipe, I’ve put it in my file!
Meg recently posted..CSA Bounty – Week Seven
July 22nd, 2010 on 2:20 pm
Yep thanks Meg, it was a lot of fun to cook with my girls! The tea party was such a bonus as well! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
July 23rd, 2010 on 12:16 am
Awe, I love it when big kids (aka 13 year olds) show that they still are a child. Ok, so I bought the Bittman book since I keep hearing/seeing all these magnificent recipes – It is the BIGGEST book in my house and I have 100′s of books. Looking forward to actually cooking something out of it! Thanks for introducing him to me!
Christy recently posted..Hello Chickens! Rooster or Hen You Decide
Twitter: bfmom
July 23rd, 2010 on 2:28 am
So awesome! And I need a good chocolate chip recipe. Thanks Alex!
Melodie recently posted..Vegetarian Foodie Fridays- My New Kitchen
July 23rd, 2010 on 2:44 am
Hey Mel! it really is a great recipe and leaving it overnight only improves the flavor and consistency. We also know it will decrease the phytates!
July 23rd, 2010 on 2:45 am
LOL christy! Only have two books bigger in my house. The family bible and our websters unabridged dictionary, but it is worth the toting around to have this Bittman classic!
July 23rd, 2010 on 10:50 am
That’s so sweet. :*) I found you @ the vegetarian foodie friday link up. I’m putting you in my google reader for future reading.
Have a great weekend!
Michelle recently posted..Coconut Black Beans & Rice and Summer Corn Salad
July 23rd, 2010 on 11:06 am
I LOVE the idea of a tea party! Kudos to you for answering “yes” to your sweet girl’s idea. Shortbread or Chocolate Chip? Can’t go wrong either way!
Kim… and Her Coffee recently posted..Best Ever Chocolate Sheet Cake
July 23rd, 2010 on 11:17 am
Looks like these cookies have all the right stuff. I’m going to try them with gluten free flour.
July 23rd, 2010 on 1:57 pm
Oh lulu please let me know if they work out well with gluten free flour! You might have to lighten up the sugar or increase the baking soda so they stay light! Best of luck!
July 23rd, 2010 on 1:58 pm
Welcome Kim! I adore my coffee too and I am drinking it right now! Yep, my daughters inspire me to spontaneous outbursts of silliness, like waffles for dinner or dancing in the rain! My muses! thanks for the visit!
July 23rd, 2010 on 1:59 pm
Welcome Michelle! Will jump over to visit your spot as well! I love mel’s link up and though I am not a vegetarian currently, I still lean in that direction so I always have lots of recipes to share with her! Thanks for the visit!
July 23rd, 2010 on 2:06 pm
ahhhhhhhhh…love this .looks irrestible and delicious,,,lovely pics…thanks so very mcuh for stopping by and ur kind words…following u and wil send more entries over to ur two for tuesdays every week….wonderful event….
July 25th, 2010 on 8:13 am
After seeing posts on Mark Bittman at your place and at Girlichef’s, I WANT IT, lol! What sweet memories Alex and wonderful that even at 13 your daughter still wants to spend some mommy daughter time. Precious! Thank you so much for linking this up to Simple Lives Thursday.
Diana@Spain in Iowa recently posted..Sourdough Blueberry Pancakes
July 25th, 2010 on 5:22 pm
Welcome Sany and yes we would love to have your visit the hop every week! your stuff is divine!
July 25th, 2010 on 5:27 pm
Mommy time is some of the best sugar you can pour on your soul isnt it diana?
Twitter: loverhealthfood
July 26th, 2010 on 9:12 am
Looks so yummy Alex. These sound like my kind of cookies- I love how you used sprouted flour! Great recipe Alex- thanks for sharing this at Wholesome Whole Foods!
Michelle (Health Food Lover) recently posted..Wholesome Whole Foods 9- July 23rd
July 26th, 2010 on 9:17 pm
Michelle, it is always fun to find new ways to “traditionalize” recipes and make them more and more healthy! I love your Wholesome Whole Foods linky and thanks for sharing your space with us!
November 17th, 2010 on 6:19 pm
Good friends share their chocolate chip cookies. Thanks for the great post!
December 26th, 2010 on 2:04 pm
Guess who got a Bittman book for Christmas?
Melynda@Moms Sunday Cafe recently posted..Merry Christmas!
Twitter: suebuschnz
January 10th, 2011 on 7:09 pm
Oh Alex, what a special time to share with your daughters
and clearly your “mommy” knew a thing or two when she gave these wonderful gifts. Love the changes you made to make these cookies a bit more traditional and a bit healthier. Thanks so much for sharing this at “Make it with … Mondays” challenge vanilla.
Hugs
Sue xo
Couscous & Consciousness recently posted..Making it with Mondays 2
August 4th, 2011 on 1:37 am
This must have created another amazing memory. Maybe next time your daughter asks for a tea party, memories of this time will come up. Actually, why don’t you just do this every week with your daughter, it would create a strong bond between the two of you.
Alice recently posted..Paying all Your Debts