A is for apple, B is for bee, and...

C is for cookie (and cake, and all things creamed). We've talked muffins, buscuits, and bread, but what is life without a good chocolate chip cookie once in a while? The creaming method brings so much goodness to the world. Really, where would Nestle (trademark, and all that) be without it?

So what is the creaming method exactly? To cream is to beat air into butter. This can certainly be done by hand, but it's much faster, easier, and better if you have a stand mixer. Often sugar will be creamed into butter because those tiny little sharp crystals tear into the fat and make thousands of little holes. These holes are what give cookies and cakes and all such goodies that light and fluffy interior that we all love so much.

It's almost mindboggling what you can do with a few basic ingredients and different methods of preparation. If you'll remember, simple bread consists of flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and water. A simple cookie batter consists of flour, sugar, salt, baking soda or powder, butter, and egg (and please note that fat and egg often do go into bread as well). Of course we can add all sorts of flavors (like vanilla) and extra goodies (chocolate chips and nuts spring to mind), but the basics remain the same. There are a few things that you can play around with within those basic ingredients as well. In order to show this off, we're going to take a look at one of America's favorites, the chocolate chip cookie.

As far as different flours go I've never used anything other than all-purpose, and that's what I suggest. You're not really looking to form gluten, but you're not really adding much liquid, either (which I'm sure you remember is essential to gluten formation). A dab of vanilla, a bit of liquid from the eggs, and maybe some milk... I'd say you're using less than 1/4 c of liquid altogether (unless, of course, your recipe is radically different than mine). Anyway, I'll save the bread flour for bread, and use the cake flour for something that really needs the lower protein.

Now when it comes to choosing between baking powder and baking soda it depends on the exact recipe. For chocolate chip cookies baking soda is great because chocolate is slightly acidic. On the other hand, if you like lighter, cakier cookies then baking powder may be what you want. The extra acid will actually help the cookies rise a bit more, giving you a fluffier end result. I've tried once replacing all of the soda with powder, and I thought that it was a bit much. Some may like that much extra flavor, but it wasn't for me. Feel free to replace part of the soda with powder if you like, just remember that soda is 4 times as powerful as powder, so plan accordingly when you swap out.

As for sugar, you have a choice between white and brown (and then there's light brown vs dark brown). Brown sugar is essentially white sugar plus molassas (either from being less refined, or from having it added in). Darker browns have more molassas. For cookies, the darker you go the chewier it will be, and I do love a chewy cookie. Also of note is that the molassas retains more moisture (I'm sure you'll have noticed the difference if you've ever seen a bag of brown and white sugar). If crisp is your pleasure, use more white sugar (ie, less moisture).
A quick note on freshness. Get tired of your brown sugar drying out? Toss a piece of bread (lots of people will use this to get rid of the heel) in with the sugar and leave it overnight in an airtight container (and really, you should be keeping the sugar in an airtight container anyway to avoid this in the first place). The dry sugar will absorb the moisture from the bread, leaving you with deliciously moist sugar and a cruddy dry piece of bread. Luckily the world has far more use for breadcrumbs than brown sugar crumbs.

Eggs are pretty simple in that you just have to remember what eggs do. They help to bind the dough and provide structure once cooked, and egg whites by nature dry things out. If you want to give your cookies a little shot of extra moistness you can replace an egg white (I'd start with just one and see where that gets you) with milk. Now, a standard large egg (that's the size that's generally used for recipes) is 1/4 c in volume. It's split almost half-and-half between yolk and white (with the white just barely winning out). Given that there are 16 tablespoons in a cup (meaning 4 in 1/4 cup) you'd need 2 tablespoons of milk to replace the yolk. Also note that right now, the hardcore bakers in the world are glaring at me and reaching for their pitchforks. I'll admit that if you're doing some serious baking, you should definitely weigh this stuff out. However, since when I make cookies it's generally a half-batch using only a single egg (and with that, I don't usually replace the white anyway, but that's just me) I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

Let's talk vanilla while I have your attention. Ever wonder what the difference between real vanilla extract that costs who-knows-how-much per bottle and the cheap imitation stuff that's a couple of bucks? Vanilla extract is the real deal, and imitation stuff comes from bark. Yeah, that stuff that grows on trees. The same chemical compound that gives vanilla its flavor is found in certain woods. There are also regulations on alcohol content. The simple version is that if it's costing you more, it's higher quality stuff (if you ever get the chance, sniff the contents of each side-by-side, you'll be able to tell the difference). So which to choose? Well, if you're making a vanilla sugar cookie where you really want that vanilla flavor to come through you might consider splurging on the good stuff. If you're planning to put so much extra stuff in the batter that you won't knowingly recognize any vanilla (but don't worry, it's still worth putting in) then go ahead and use the cheap stuff.

And now we come to the fun part. This is my personal cookie recipe. Like I said, I'm a fan of chewy cookies, so that's what you get from this. Want something different? Now you know what to do to get it.

1 c (2 sticks) butter
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla (I use imitation)
2 1/4 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 bag chocolate chips (the usual suspect here, it's been a while, but I think it's a pound)

Cream the butter and sugar (on high for a few minutes in a stand mixer if you can).
Beat together the eggs with the vanilla and mix into the batter.
Combine the flour with the soda and salt. Mix into the batter (please don't do this at high speed, unless you're going out as a ghost for halloween. In fact, I'd almost say to go ahead and do this part by hand to avoid any unecessary cleanup).
Add the chocolate chips and mix.

This should give you somewhere around 2 dozen golf ball-sized cookies (2 1/2-3" diameter). If you have a scoop that you like the size of, use that for uniformity (uniform cookies means uniform cooking). You want to take care to not have the batter too runny, lest the cookies come out a flat bloblike mess. Then again, you don't want to put rocks into the oven either, or you'll have a flat dough ring with the chocolate all bunched up in the middle in a mound. The batter should be soft to the touch, but still able to hold its shape well. Feel free to chill or set out as needed.

Space the would-be cookies on a baking sheet with enough room that they won't be running together (how much depends on just how large you're making them). For those golf balls, I'd give a good 2 1/2" in between each. Bake at 350 until the outside is golden brown. The middle should be pale and look unfinished (it's not done yet, but it'll keep cooking out of the oven).
If you have parchment paper, it'll save you a lot of grief getting them off of the baking sheet, not to mention it's a huge help with clean up. Barring that, be ready with a nice thin spatula. Remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool (if they're falling apart on you when you try to pull them off, you can let them sit on the sheet for a bit to set more, but be careful to not let them overcook on the sheet).

One last thing. I'm sure that, if I were under any legal obligation, I'd be enforced to inform you that consuming uncooked cookie dough that, like in this case, contains raw egg is a health risk and can lead to salmonella.

So... yeah... be warned.

Doesn't stop me, though.