Additional Coverage:
- I tried 4 of Ina Garten’s cookie recipes. My favorite took just 10 minutes to bake. (businessinsider.com)
Local Baker Puts Ina Garten’s Cookie Recipes to the Ultimate Test
Local food enthusiast, Ivy Carbone, recently embarked on a delicious mission: to bake and rank four of Ina Garten’s most beloved cookie recipes. With a reputation for reliable and enjoyable dishes, Garten’s recipes are a favorite among home cooks, and Carbone was eager to see how her cookie creations stacked up.
Carbone selected a diverse quartet of cookies to evaluate: the Giant Crinkled Chocolate Chip Cookies, Raspberry Jam Thumbprints, Chocolate White-Chocolate Chunk Cookies, and Salty Oatmeal Chocolate-Chunk Cookies. Her goal was to find out which of these sweet treats truly earned the top spot.
The Great Cookie Countdown: From Fourth to First Place
4. Giant Crinkled Chocolate Chip Cookies: A Tedious Task for a Good, Not Great, Cookie
Garten’s Giant Crinkled Chocolate Chip Cookies, featuring vanilla, bittersweet chocolate, and sea salt, promised an impressive outcome. Carbone gathered the necessary ingredients, including two sticks of unsalted butter, 1 ½ cups of granulated sugar, ¼ cup of light-brown sugar, an extra-large egg, vanilla extract, flour, baking soda, kosher salt, and eight ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate, with extra sea salt for sprinkling.
The dough preparation was straightforward, combining ingredients in an electric mixer before folding in the chocolate and chilling for 30 minutes. However, the baking process proved to be a bit more involved.
Each cookie required a generous ⅓ cup of dough, leading to large cookies that spread considerably and necessitated baking in multiple batches. The recipe’s signature “crinkle effect” involved repeatedly removing the baking sheet and banging it on the counter every three minutes, a step Carbone found tedious.
She also advised using parchment paper to prevent sticking, a lesson learned from her first batch.
While the resulting cookies were thin, buttery, and crispy, Carbone felt they didn’t quite hit the mark for her personal preference for a chewier texture. Despite their impressive appearance, the effort required landed them in fourth place.
3. Raspberry Jam Thumbprints: A Sweet Reward for Extra Effort
Next up were Garten’s Raspberry Jam Thumbprints, a recipe calling for vanilla, coconut, and a choice of jam. Carbone assembled three sticks of unsalted butter, one cup of sugar, vanilla extract, 3 ½ cups of all-purpose flour, kosher salt, an egg wash, seven ounces of sweetened flaked coconut, and raspberry jam.
The dough, a shortbread-like consistency, was prepared in an electric mixer and then lightly kneaded. After a 30-minute refrigeration period, the cookies required more hands-on work. Each ball of dough was shaped, dipped in egg wash, rolled in shredded coconut, indented with a thumbprint, and filled with jam before baking.
Carbone found the extra steps worthwhile. The cookies emerged with perfectly toasted coconut and a delightful balance of sweet raspberry jam and buttery, crumbly shortbread. She noted the potential for experimenting with various jam flavors, making these a solid third-place contender.
2. Chocolate White-Chocolate Chunk Cookies: A Fudgy Delight
Carbone then tackled Garten’s Chocolate White-Chocolate Chunk Cookies, a recipe that largely relies on pantry staples. Her ingredient list included ½ pound of unsalted butter, one cup each of light-brown and granulated sugar, vanilla extract, two extra-large eggs, ⅔ cup of unsweetened cocoa, two cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, and a substantial 1 ½ pounds of chopped white chocolate.
The dough came together swiftly in an electric mixer, taking less than 10 minutes. Garten’s recipe emphasized a precise 15-minute bake time, even if the cookies appeared underdone, to achieve the desired chewy texture. Carbone followed this instruction, allowing them to cool before moving.
Despite not typically gravitating toward chocolate cookies, Carbone was won over by these. They were soft, rich, and wonderfully chewy, boasting a brownie-like fudginess. The combination of the dark chocolate dough and the sweet white chocolate chunks proved irresistible, securing them a strong second-place finish.
1. Salty Oatmeal Chocolate-Chunk Cookies: The Undisputed Champion
Finally, Carbone baked Garten’s Salty Oatmeal Chocolate-Chunk Cookies, a twist on the classic with cranberries instead of raisins. She gathered two sticks of unsalted butter, ¾ cup each of light-brown and granulated sugar, vanilla extract, two extra-large eggs, 1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour, baking soda, kosher salt, 1 ¼ cups of old-fashioned oats, ¾ pound of bittersweet chocolate, ¾ cup of dried cranberries, and sea salt for sprinkling.
This recipe was lauded for its simplicity. Carbone creamed the butter and sugars, added the dry ingredients, and then folded in the cranberries and chocolate chunks before baking for just 10 minutes. The lack of complicated steps or the need for dough refrigeration was a welcome bonus.
The results were outstanding. These cookies were described as “insanely delicious,” offering a simple yet perfectly balanced flavor profile.
The buttery oatmeal, melty chocolate chunks, and the inclusion of dried cranberries over raisins made for a winning combination. The noticeable but well-integrated saltiness further enhanced the experience.
While Carbone suggested adding cinnamon for an extra touch, she declared them “perfect as is.” Their chewy interior, crispy edges, and overall flavorful appeal made them easily the best recipe she tried, a cookie she could “eat all of in one sitting.”
Read More About This Story:
- I tried 4 of Ina Garten’s cookie recipes. My favorite took just 10 minutes to bake. (businessinsider.com)