Book: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
In my comfortable forgetfulness of the “Station Eleven” description, my library hold became available and I plunged into this pandemic-caused post-civilization tale while I exist in the very real throes of a real-life pandemic world. Amazingly, I only had a few moments where, in my story projection, I panicked, wondering why everyone was acting so calm while the world as we know it is ending all around us! As reality again claimed me, I could dial back my panic and comfortably sit in the only nagging worry that comes with a much less aggressive pandemic.
This book was thought provoking and beautifully expressed. But my take away was chocolate chip cookies.
Do you remember chocolate-chip cookies?”
“I dream of chocolate-chip cookies. Don’t torture me.”
Station 11: A Novel by Emily St. John Mandel pg 277
At this point in the book, I froze. Here I was in my chocolate padded world, merrily skipping along in a haze of cocoa, then suddenly I was jerked into the very real and terrifying idea of life without the best beans ever. What WOULD my life be like without another chocolate chip cookie? For forever?!?! And if I had to choose THE chocolate chip cookie to have as my last, what would it be? I knew I hadn’t found it yet, so this was my call to arms, or, to the kitchen in my case.
So, here’s my choice for The End of the World Chocolate Chip Cookies. I’ve even included some steps you could skip if, say, the meteor is coming too fast. At that point, though, let’s agree to just eat all of it. Raw. By the spoonful. From the bowl.
If you aren’t in a rush, though, these are soft and chewy and perfect for savoring the depth of flavor offered by the browned butter and oat flour.
What would your end-of-the-world chocolate chip cookie be? Soft? Crispy? Cake-y? Thin? Tell me in the comments below!
End-of-the-World Chocolate Chip Cookies
Course: dessert, chocolate chip cookiesCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Beginner22
1 Cookie1
hour55
minutes15
minutesIngredients
1 cup (227 grams/2 sticks) unsalted butter
220 grams (about 1 cup packed) brown sugar
125 grams (about 2/3 cup) sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
350 grams (about 3 cups) bread flour
60 grams (about 1/2 cup) oat flour
(blend just over 1/2 cup rolled oats until powdered)2 teaspoons corn starch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups toasted walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped dark chocolate (I use the chocolate bars from the candy section of the grocery store)
1-2 Tablespoons flaky salt (ie. Kosher salt) for the top
Directions
- Brown the Butter (see note)
- Melt the butter on medium low heat in a shallow pan. It may sputter a bit. What you’re wanting is a beautiful toasted, nutty-buttery smell and the butter changing from golden to brown. There will be some dark bits in the bottom of the pan. Don’t panic! That is exactly what you want. What you don’t want is the pan hot enough to smoke.This process will take 5-10 minutes, depending on the pan and stovetop temp.
- Remove butter to a bowl with a rubber spatula (to ensure you get all those nutty bits), and depending on your timeframe, leave it on the counter or put it in the fridge to cool. You want it in solid form again, but still soft. I’ve even putt it in the freezer, but keep an eye on it so it doesn’t get too hard!
- Mix the Cookies
- In a bowl, cream the cooled browned butter, brown sugar, and sugar together.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix slowly after each addition. Add the vanilla with the last egg.
- In a separate bowl, mix the bread flour, oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, corn starch, and salt together.
- With the mixer on low, pour 1/3 of the dry ingredients in and mix. Do this two more times until all the dry ingredients are added.
- Removing the mixing bowl from the mixer, fold in the chocolate and nuts and roll into 20-24 balls, mine were a bitt smaller than a golf ball.
- Place rolled balls on a cookie sheet or large plate.Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. (see note)
- Bake
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Remove the dough balls from the fridge, place on a cookie sheet a couple inches apart and press down on each ball to decrease the height by half.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until they are puffy and when one is tapped with a finger, there’s still give. Sprinkle immediately with a pinch of the flaky salt. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then remove to a cooling rack or your mouth.
Notes
- Big meteor coming your way? Feel free to skip this step.
Congratulations! So cool to read about these when the remains of a bungled Chinese rocket is heading for earth at 18,000 miles per hour.
Ha! Agreed!
I love this!!!
Thank you. xoxoi
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