What was this wonderful cookie?

[alkapal]

I don't have a photo, but recently had a fabulous cookie that was chock-a-block with goodies -- white chocolate chunks, dark chocolate chunks, walnuts in a (probably) brown sugar-butter base (not a chocolate cookie).

it was not spiced, really, other than vanilla, i suppose. there was maybe a *tiny, tiny* touch of cinnamon -- maybe just a slightest hint. the cookie was very rich from all the chocolate. it had a nice little bite to it because of the nuts. i'd say the ratio of chocolate to nuts to "cookie" was 4:2:1.

they were about 4-5" across, and just shy of 1/2" high, i'd guess.

it was notable because the cookie was totally wall-to-wall with the chocolate and nuts. it did not have coconut nor oatmeal (that i could tell). and despite being full of "add-ins", it did not fall apart! it was not hard or crispy, but had a nice tender crumb when i broke off small pieces to eat.

i was told the lady who made them wants to sell them, so would not be willing to give out her recipe.

any ideas?

[alkapal]

i THINK this may be the closest i've seen: http://therecipeplace.blogspot.com/20...

plus walnuts.

~~~~~
guess i'd better get my oven ready to try the recipe out! ;-).

[JoanN]

I'm a sucker for those almond brickle chips and so is my grandson. And I just happen to have some in the freezer. Unfortunately, he's not due for a visit for quite some time so I'll be able to take full advantage of your test runs. Be sure to let us know how many walnuts you add and how finely you chop them. This sounds as though it could be a keeper, whether it replicates the cookie you were looking for or not.

[alkapal]

joan, i'm going to try both of the types of brickle bits -- one is the english toffee, and one is plain "bits o' brickle." (my dad just loved heath bars -- and "skor").

also, i will do variants on the chocolate chip combinations. maybe -- and hopefully not to get ahead of myself -- do a variant that includes craisins, macadamias and white chocolate chunks, too.

[JoanN]

Sounds like you're going to be able to set up an entire school bake sale all on your own!

I only know of Bit o' Brickle, and had a helluva time trying to find them, I might add. Haven't seen English toffee bits. Do you know offhand who makes them?

I'm not a big fan of craisins, but macadamias sound perfect here. And I was actually surprised as I was reading through the recipe not to see white chocolate in the ingredients list. I had just assumed from the title of the recipe that it would be there.

Looking forward to the reports. Happy Baking!

[alkapal]

thanks. heath (hershey's) makes both "bits." they have a "hard to find product" page to get help.

[weezycom]

I wonder, for the flavoring, instead of vanilla extract she used a hard liquor, maybe a spiced rum? If you use just a bit in a crowded cookie, it really becomes a very elusive flavor.

[Boccone Dolce]

Gimmie!!!
I can't get enough cookies, lately I'm sad when I venture into new cookie-land. I like a fat, busy cookie and I like it to not fall apart as I nibble.
I'm really in love with macadamia nut but hate the taste of "white chocolate" - I call it 'mock-late' ala the Friends episode when Monica had to cook with that stuff.
There are a few sticks of butter getting soft on my counter tomorrow AM for me to bake, it's been so hot here but if I start early I can be done before the sun comes up!

[swiftbanderilla]

i think this could be a speculation circus and will join in and place my bets on the fact that she took something kinda basic and just tweaked it a little to make it hers (and wonderful). maybe just make a basic chocolate chip cookie, add a hint of cinnamon, add the right sized and types of different chocolate chips and nuts and before adding them, dredge them in a little flour so they don't all rise to the bottom. just some ideas.

[pikawicca]

Take a basic chocolate chip cookie dough and add what you want.

[chowser]

A picture would be helpful, even if not the exact cookie. I wonder, since it's tall, if it has pulverized oatmeal, like the fake Nieman Marcus cookie. That would be easy to doctor up and is strong enough of a cookie to hold up the different types of chocolate chunk.

[alkapal]

i wondered that, too, chowser.

i looked on google images for a similar-looking cookie, but no luck.

[chowser]

This is a picture of the Neiman Marcus cookie:

http://montcarte.ca/2008/09/11/the-ne...

It has a lot of substance to it. The Best Recipe version of the big and chewy cookie could be close to what you're describing, as could Jacques Torres' NY Times one (which is my favorite), if it's at all chocolate chip cookie like. The latter ones are chewier, the previous chunky tasting.

[alkapal]

very tempting, indeed.

this levain bakery cookie seems the closest yet: http://www.levainbakery.com/cookies/chocolate-chip-walnut-cookies.aspx

and they even publish links to clone recipes! ha ha! http://www.levainbakery.com/cookies/recipes.aspx

after reading through some, it sounds like a little cornstarch in the batter is helpful, too.

~~~~~~
oh my, look what this intrepid baker-blogger did: cloned the levain recipe, made it into a bar cookie, then dipped the whole thing in chocolate to coat! wicked! wicked diet killer! http://vanillakitchen.blogspot.com/20...

[chowser]

Except, I posted the wrong link. Sorry. That was to the real NM cookie recipe. Let me find a link to the fake one, BTW, the real NM recipe is very good--more of an adult recipe, less sweet.

[souschef]

I did not realize that there was a real NM cookie and a fake NM cookie. I thought it was all fake because of the story behind it. Don't know which one I made after all.

[chowser]

The one with the ground oatmeal and grated chocolate is the fake one. This is the real one. The cookie is good but the baking time is far too long. I think the espresso powder makes a big difference.

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/service/nm_cookie_recipe.jhtml

The fake one makes a hearty cookie with all that oatmeal. I know people who swear by it and years ago (over a decade...), it used to be my go-to recipe but I've found too many that are better than that since. Here's a picture of the real fake one...

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2009/09...

FWIW, it's also called the Mrs. Field's ccc recipe, with the same urban myth.

[rainey]

How confident and generous of Levain Bakery to provide the cheater recipes!

I just saw a story about them. Are the cheater recipes made from the same enormous handful of dough?

[chowser]

I've been playing with getting taller cookies for the past couple of years. Adding cornstarch, replacing some of the flour w/ cornstarch (or similarly using cake flour) makes a taller cookie but at the expense of chewiness which I think make a chocolate chip cookie. The NYT recipes counters that by using a combination of cake and bread flour. I saw the Bobby Flaw throwdown with Levain and they don't use vanilla. I can't imagine a ccc w/out.

I just made pb cookies dipped half in chocolate--almost like candy.

[souschef]

I made the fake Needless Markup cookie many years ago, and quite liked it.

[rainey]

Actually, it's interesting to see N-M's recipe but I think the fake ones are more complex. Whatever. My husband can't get enough of the ones that circulate with the urban legend.

[darklyglimmer]

I have no idea what this cookie is, but I just wanted to add that I sometimes make Wyoming Cowboy Cookies from a recipe that includes coconut. There's not enough to make the end result wantonly (or even identifiably) coconutty, but it does add some body and texture. Which is not to say that there was coconut in the cookie you had - you'd certainly know better than I would! - but there could have been.

[greygarious]

Since she wants to sell them, presumably she has created or altered a recipe so you aren't likely to find a copycat that is exact. Maybe you should lobby to become her business partner!

[ipsedixit]

Maybe it was a basic snickerdoodle dough (made with brown sugar) with white and dark chocolate and walnuts added?

Or maybe just wait until she starts selling them? Always good to support "mom-and-pop" operations, right?

[alkapal]

unlike sonoma cookie, there was no coconut, no raisins, no oatmeal in the cookie i had. but it was that big!

and this is a home-made cookie, not ordered.

[mamachef]

To me, it sounds like Condra Easley's Sonoma cookie. She MIGHT give up the ingredients, but I doubt she'd let go of proportions. You could try contacting her at letthemmailcake.com.

[JoanN]

Sort of sounds as though it could be a variation of David Shamah's Jumbles from "Rose's Christmas Cookies." Here's a link (scroll down) to a seriously shortened version, but at least it has the ingredients: http://leslieland.com/2008/12/solstic...

Haven't made these in quite a while so my recollection is a bit fuzzy, but the cookie was most definitely wall-to-wall nuts, raisins, and chips just barely held together. I would think it fairly easy to play with this, substituting white chocolate for the raisins for instance and chunks for chips.

[alkapal]

thanks.

i note some differences: the jumbles seem sort of lumpy, maybe due to the raisins. i guess a substitution of chocolate would eliminate the bulkiness. and the ones i had were quite large.

maybe i'll have to experiment. great for my diet! ha!