Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies - Baking Adventures In A Messy Kitchen

(for Dave’s birthday)

I made these at Christmas, and Dave loved them so much that this is what he wanted for his birthday instead of a cake. I offered to do both, but no: he wanted the cookies. So cookies he received.

I initially found this recipe on the Food Network site, but I got a lot more detail (and some stunning photos) when I went right to the original source: the Pioneer Woman’s blog. Of course that makes any attempt to blog it here seem ridiculous, but I don’t think there’s much crossover in our audience. She has millions, I have some indulgent family members and friends. That’s okay. She’s on tv, and the idea of that completely terrifies me, so I think the status quo is just fine for both of us.

For birthday treats, I don’t make concessions to fat content or nutrition concerns unless asked, and Dave was definitely not asking. All purpose flour? You got it? Two sticks of butter? Absolutely.

Butter creamed? Check. Sugar? Two kinds? Bring it on.

I added eggs, vanilla, and then the superspecial ingredient: malted milk powder.

It all blended in quite nicely, so I turned my attention to the dry ingredients. Well…the OTHER dry ingredients. (Powder= dry ingredient. D’oh.)

I whisked together the flour, baking soda, and salt. The Pioneer Woman said to sift it, but I find sifting tedious and messy and I wasn’t in the mood, so I went for the whisk instead. Once it was nice and puffy, I added it to the existing batter, mixing just until everything was combined and it had a consistent texture. (Gooey, if you’re curious.) Then came the milk chocolate chips — a whole bag of them.

It was a struggle to avoid drooling when I got to this phase, but in the spirit of birthday giving, I controlled myself.

I used the cookie scoop to shape the cookies, and did my best to keep them similar in size. The gooey nature of the batter made this a little challenging, but it was a worthwhile and engaging task.