Name: Chocolate Chip Cookies from the "Back in The Day Cookbook"
Yield: 24 giant cookies
Ingredients: 2 1/2 C all-purpose flour; 1 1/4 tsp baking soda; 1 1/4 tsp fine sea salt; 1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter (at room temperature); 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract; 1 C granulated sugar; 1 C packed light brown sugar; 2 large eggs (at room temperature); 2 C semisweet chocolate chips; Fleur de sel for sprinkling

Several years ago I cleaned out my cookbook collection, getting rid of about 20 of them because my poor shelves were getting to be swayback from all the books I had. Just lately I’ve been in buying mode again and have found a few cookbooks that I’m so excited about digging into. One of those is from the popular Back In The Day Bakery based in Savannah.

It’s said that there would be a riot in the bakery if these chocolate chip cookies weren’t there everyday, so they must be good! They’re giant – about four inches in diameter – and filled with chocolate chips (the original used chocolate chunks).

This recipe rivals and is similar to my favorite (from Pillsbury) in that it’s chewy in the center with a crunchy outside. There’s also a very light sprinkle of sea salt on top before they’re baked and that adds a different flavor level to the cookie. It’s a light enough sprinkling not to be salty and complements the sweet. You can leave that off if you want and the cookies will be just as good.

Bret gave a thumbs up to these and he’s very picky about chocolate chip cookies. I gave them a thumbs up, too, which was hard to do while I was stuffing them into my mouth. Don’t forget the tall, cold glass of milk on the side.

Chocolate Chip Cookies from the "Back in The Day Cookbook"

****Excellent, giant chocolate chip cookies.

Servings: 24 giant cookies

Ingredients

2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter at room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 C granulated sugar
1 C packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
2 C semisweet chocolate chips
Fleur de sel for sprinkling

Instructions

Move a rack to the bottom third of your oven and preheat to 350°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, vanilla, and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times.
Add the eggs and mix for no more than 1 minute - just to mix in. Turn the speed down to low and add the dry ingredients 1 cup at a time and beat until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir until completely and evenly incorporated.
Use a large ice cream scoop or a 1/4-cup measuring cup to form the cookies and place about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets (about 6 per sheet). Lightly pat down the tops of the cookies and barely sprinkle a bit of sea salt on the tops of all six cookies.
Bake one sheet of cookies at a time for 15-17 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time for even doneness. Remove the cookies when they are lightly brown around the edges - they will still be light in the center. Let the cookies cool in the pan for 3 to 4 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a rack. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

Tips and Stuff: The original recipe calls for unbleached flour an unsalted butter, but I used regular bleached flour and salted butter because that's what I had.

Oh my! These little delights were brought to the potluck lunch last week and I bet I ate six of them throughout the day. You know how they leave stuff out so you can graze on everything the rest of the day? My office is next to the break room and I could sneak in there and grab one or two every now and then. I had never heard of these, but they’ve been floating around cyber space waiting for me to find them.

There are only five ingredients in this cookie – cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, chocolate chips and crescent rolls. They’re easy to throw together, but the crescents stay a little flimsy and are a little awkward to roll up and wrap in saran wrap for the chilling part. Bret helped me on that and he looked at the funny-looking rolls skeptically, wondering what I’d come up with now. Just looking at the assembled parts tells you these are going to be good!

Nitishia (from the potluck) had used a combination chocolate, caramel and cherry chips, but I couldn’t find any cherry chips, so just used chocolate and caramel chips. I also put a few more than called for because you can’t go wrong with more chocolate. I was right. These things are heavenly right out of the oven. You can see the layers from the crescent rolls and the gooey cream cheese swirled with softened chocolate chips. Here’s a close up shot (you know how I love my close ups):

My mind was whirling with combinations for these cookies: a little cinnamon added to the cream cheese and covered with cinnamon chips; butterscotch chips with a drizzle of glaze on top, or what about orange zest in the cream cheese with chocolate chips and an orange glaze. I have one more roll of crescent rolls and am going to try it with Neufchatel (1/3 less fat) cream cheese to see if you can even tell the difference. I wouldn’t want to change the melt-in-your-mouth goodness of these, though. They’re wonderful!

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Crescent Cookies

***** My new favorite cookie. Melts in your mouth.

Servings: 2 dozen

Ingredients

1 can (8 oz) crescent rolls
1 (8 oz.) block cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 C sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 C chocolate chips (your choice - mini, caramel, semisweet, or a combination)

Instructions

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Unroll the crescent rolls onto a sheet of waxed paper and lightly pinch together the seams. Stretch the dough out slightly. It should be in the shape of a rectangle.
Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the crescent dough, leaving about 1/4" from the edges so it won't squish out when you roll it. Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly on top of the cream cheese and then roll up the dough as firmly as you can without losing your filling.
Cut the dough in half and wrap each half in cling wrap. Store in the refrigerator overnight or the freezer for a couple of hours to firm up the dough.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the cookies into 1/2" slices, cleaning the knife between slices, and place on a parchment-covered cookie sheet. Cook for 14-15 minutes or until the cookies are lightly golden brown. Let sit on the cookie sheet for a minute or two, then transfer to a rack for cooling.

Recipe Notes

Tips and Stuff:

You can buy seamless crescent roll sheets somewhere in this civilized country, but not in my neighborhood. It would be much easier to handle with the seamless sheets.

To keep the dough from sticking to the wax paper, you can lightly spray it with cooking spray. It was a little tacky to pick up after rolling.

The dough will never harden, but it will firm up so you can slice the cookies.

Keep your family away from the warm cookies or you'll turn around and they'll be gone....

Main navigation

chocolate chip cookies