Pecanish chocolate chip cookies

Are you a fan of cookies?

I certainly am. Especially those big ones with chocolates chips. Flakes of sea salt on the top would have maximum appeal. Bite into them and the balance of sweet and salt is just delicious Yup, my favourite ones. 

Today, on the 10th year of Baketales,  I went all out and made a batch of them and guess what - I'm going to share the recipe with you. Of course, since it's for a celebration,  I've added in my favourite chocolate chip cookie ingredients - dark chocolate chips (of course), white chocolate chips and pecans. And flakes of seasalt. 

These cookies are pretty simple to make, you can sub the pecans with any other kind of nuts. You can leave out the white chips and add more dark ones. You can divide the dough into 10 and make giant sized cookies, it's a cool recipe that way. But don't skip the part about chilling the dough, that's what makes them thick after baking.

They are chewy, nutty and what I love the most is when you bite into one of those chocolate chips. Because they have melted, it's like a pool of chocolate that suddenly floods your mouth. In fact, if you get to buy chocolate chunks (or even cut a bar of chocolate into chunks), I assure you that the experience will be sublime.

So without further ado, let's dive into the recipe.

Pecanish chocolate chip cookies (makes 15 cookies) 

Ingredients 

220 gm flour

1 tsp cornflour 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp salt 

125 gm butter at room temperature 

1 tsp vanilla extract

120 gm brown sugar

90 gm granulated sugar 

1egg 

120 gm dark chocolate chips

60 gm white chocolate chips 

100 gm chopped pecans

Flaked sea salt

Method

Sift together the first four ingredients,  keep aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and vanilla extract for about 2 minutes.

Add in both kinds of sugar, beat at high speed for another 2 minutes.

Beat in egg till the dough is creamy.

Add in dry ingredients in 3 batches, also add in the chocolate chips and pecans.

Mix it well with a spatula till there are no streaks of flour.

Transfer to a bowl with an airtight lid and refrigerate for 4 - 24 hours. 

Divide into 15 cookies and place on a parchment-lined baking tray.

Flatten the cookies a little. 

Bake in a preheated 170°C oven for about 10 minutes.

Remove the tray from the oven, sprinkle over a few flakes of salt and put back into the oven for another 8 - 10 minutes. 

Remove from the oven, let cool to room temperature.  

To store, pack into an airtight container. Cookies will stay good for 3 - 4 days though they are best on the day they are made.

Thank you dear readers for being a part of my blog. I do hope you will make these cookies and do share your pics with me in the comments section. 

Cheers!

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Mediterranean medley at Bayroot

The problem with being tech challenged is that when something stops working, one doesn't know how to proceed. Used to working on the desktop, one fine day the hard drive crashed and with it, my blogging life too. All my photos, files, class notes, everything vanished into thin air. The ignominy was to listen to the husband's and son's "we told you so" (nope, didn't back up any of my files). 

After moping all through the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, I finally decided to befriend my phone. Clumsy fingers ensure that every post gets redone at least 6 times but hey, at least the job gets done. For example, this is the 4th time I'm drafting this one.

Green Meadows Resort is truly a hidden gem. Good mid eastern food is almost impossible to get in Chennai and then Bayroot comes along and proves otherwise. 

Only my second visit there and I'm so taken up with the place, the food and the service. 

This time around, the long, leisurely lunch was in the company of two lovely ladies. The eclectic menu offers not just middle eastern food but also Italian, Japanese, Asian, Thai and Indian - did I miss anything 🤔

Honey chilli lotus root was crunchy (nothing worse than soggy lotus root) and the medley of flavours was delish

Khatafi prawn with walnut paste was impressive. Rice vermicelli was used to wrap the prawns and the end result was all kinds of delectable. Though the prawns were large, they were succulent to the last bite.

Vegetable moussaka, surrounded by a pool of tahini sauce, was simply epic. Lighter than the usual bechamel, this was a brilliant combination that had us scraping our plates clean.

If you like duck, just order the duck confit with creamy polenta and jus. The portion of duck was pretty large but so beautifully done that it practically fell off the bone. The creamy polenta was the perfect accompaniment. 

After a meal like this, dessert was going to be an indulgence so we shared a biscoff cheesecake. Served upside down, the moreish cheesecake came with a scoop of ice cream. Like I said, it was an indulgence. 

Our meal for 3, along with mocktails, worked out to about 1000/ per head. Which is fine, considering the quality of the food and top notch service. 

Bayroot is at Green Meadows Resort 

4, 364 Anna Salai Road, 

Palavakkam,

Chennai 600041.

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