Remember Troop Beverly Hills? My sister & I loved that movie when we were younger. It’s so funny to go back and watch it now that I’m older.
![Troop Beverly Hills Poster]()
source: IMDb Troop Beverly Hills
source: It’s a silly little movie with some hilarious costume design {1989 was a lovely year for fashion…} If you’ve never seen it, the movie is about a wilderness girls troop {like Girl Scouts} in Beverly Hills and their “adventures” to become Wilderness Girls.
In an attempt to sell the most cookies, they put on a big production. One of the girls even sings a song a la Tina Turner.
Even though the movie is 23 years old and I haven’t seen it in a while, I sometimes get the Cookie Time Song stuck in my head… First, it makes me laugh; then, it puts me in a baking mood.
Truth be told, I can’t go very long without baking. I can always find an excuse to bake – food holidays, birthdays, Thursdays …
When I was a senior in college I didn’t have class on Thursday, so it became my designated “baking day.” You could pretty much almost always find me baking on a Thursday. I think I’m going to bring that back.
On a related note: I am forever trying to come up with the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. I want my chocolate chip cookie to be crunchy on the outside but chewy on the inside.
As much as I love the Nestle Toll House recipe cookies straight from the oven, the cookies harden as they cool, and the next day they are hardly even the slightest bit chewy {bummer}.
One of the best chocolate chip cookies recipes I’ve made is the Cook’s Illustrated The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, and it was pretty close to perfect! However, it is a little more work than I am usually in the mood for.
I want an easy chocolate chip cookie recipe – cream butter & sugar, add egg & vanilla extract, add flour, fold in chocolate chips, done.
Last week when I decided to bake, I looked over a couple of different recipes {mostly from the chocolate chip packages or bags of flour} and realized I only had one stick of butter & didn’t want to make 5 dozen cookies. I also wanted something a little more exciting than plain chocolate chip cookies.
Here is what I came up with to meet my criteria to be easy, chewy, and a little more exciting…
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 30 cookies
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- ¾ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour (you really cannot tell! I promise!!)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup peanut butter chips
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes until fluffy & creamy. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
On low speed, beat in ½ flour mixture. Turn off & scrape sides. Turn back on low speed and mix in remaining flour mixture.
Fold in peanut butter and chocolate chips.
Put tablespoon sized scoops of dough on a baking sheet about 1-2 inches apart. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
Bake at 375°F for 8-10 minutes until very lightly browned (the centers will look soft). Let cool on baking sheet 2-3 minutes and transfer to cookie rack to cool.
Enjoy!
Now I’m off to do the Freddie…