This One Goes Out to David

Now it is time to discuss The Recipe That Launched A Thousand Copies. My friend David has formulated a chocolate chip cookie recipe that you probably know about, if you are reading this. If you do not know what I am talking about, I am sorry. Your life is clearly incomplete. If memory serves right, I first had these wonderful creations on May 9, 2006. The date could be wrong, but it was a Monday night sometime in early May. That was a good day. Well, actually, it had been one of the worst days that entire year. I don't think Dave knew that, but anyway the cookies made me feel completely better. Sometime this past fall, I discovered that a certain employee of his had acquired this recipe. Unbeknownst to him, she was handing out photocopies to half of the free world. She even gave me one, under the condition that I didn't tell David that I had it. It laid dormant, waiting until I could buy vanilla bean paste.

Fast forward two months later- I broke down and asked David where to buy vanilla bean paste, and the cat was outta the proverbial bag. I made them, and it was good. I had putzed around the kitchen baking some baguettes, and some pumpkin bread for my friend Heather because the scent of it reminds her of Autumn, but this is when I really started getting enthusiastic about baking. Long story short, I kept making cookies, and here we are. Today, I made these because I haven't had the time to bake lately and I was going crazy. My sister also likes it when I make cookie with chocolate in them, because I usually make the peanut butter one's and she hates them. She's never actually tried one, by the way.
Now, I've played around with this recipe. I substituted a secret ingredient for the milk a while back, and David was of the opinion I improved upon his achievement. I don't know about all that, but they were tasty. Today, I was out of that special sumthin', and have you been outside lately? I was not about to get in the rickety old van that doesn't have heat to go and get the special sumthin'. So, I used something else in addition to the milk. I will not tell you people what it was, but I will say this much: my mother was highly skeptical of my idea, and upon tasting the cookie she declared it was the best chocolate chip cookie of her life. I also went equal parts with the two different types of flour, and I chilled the dough for longer than required. As a result, these cookies are about one inch tall and two inches wide, and a bit crunchy on the outside. That last part is my fault, I left the last three sheets in the oven a bit longer to get them a slight golden brown, because the first (and best) sheet was too pale for my liking.
I myself have had four this evening. I also have a headache from the sugar. Let's hope they survive until tomorrow for their intended recipient(s). Here are some bad photos.


Does the above photo really surprise you?


This is one of the later, and more brown, cookies.


Again, the last one outta the oven.

This was the first sheet. See how pale (and blurry) they are?

That is all. I will bake something else soon, and it will probably show up in the break room at work.