Malt Shop Chocolate Chip Cookies

You may notice a pattern in all of my cookie photos: all on a large cooling rack, in front of a window in the late afternoon sunlight. I'd never noticed this, but I do tend to bake cookies late on Sunday afternoons. You know that nostalgic notion of a pie cooling on a window sill? I guess cookies are my pie.

I'm preparing for one of my favorite Oxford events: the Summer Concert Series in the Grove. Dan and I love it. Every Sunday night in June we pack a picnic basket with a light dinner, a bottle of wine, and some dessert, we grab a blanket and the dog, and we head out for an evening in the park with music. It really seems like something out of a movie. Small children wander over and ask to pet our dog--they usually love when he licks them, though they are startled at first--friends meet us, and we all watch the sun set over the outdoor stage. It's quite perfect, really.

Tonight, we're taking a vegetable popover (basically a really thin frittata), some strawberries, a bottle of Pinot Noir, and these cookies: Malt Shop Chocolate Chip Cookies. I am the only person I know in this town who loves chocolate malts, so I'd hoped these cookies would only be for me *wink*. The dough tastes like a really thick old-fashioned malt like you'd find at the ice cream shop, Beaches & Cream, at Disney's Beach Club Resort (that's for y'all, Waldens). However, the malt flavor mellows as they bake and you end up with chewy, salty, chocolatey cookies that are begging to be taken on a picnic or dunked in ice-cold milk late at night. And I cannot even begin to describe what amazing ice cream sandwiches these would make: chocolate ice cream would take these over the top.

Give them a try; they're simple, low in fat and calories, and really rich and satisfying. Even if you're not a malt lover like me, I promise you'll love these cookies.

Malt Shop Chocolate Chip Cookies

(adapted from Cooking Light, May 2005)

1 cup packed brown sugar (I used light, but any would work)

6 T malted milk powder (such as Carnation, find it in the hot chocolate section)

5 T butter, room temperature

3 T chocolate syrup

1 T vanilla

1 large egg

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Beat first six ingredients (through the egg) in a large bowl with a standing or handheld mixture until well-blended and fluffy.

3. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl; add in batches to the wet mixture, beating each batch on low speed until just incorporated.

4. Fold in the chocolate chips. At this point, taste the batter--if it is stiff, go ahead and start dishing out the cookies. If it is really soft, stick it in the fridge for 30 minutes. If the butter is too soft, the cookies will spread too much and flatten out instead of puffing up.

5. Place cookies by heaping teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased nonstick baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until puffed. They will not look browned, although the edges might be slightly golden. Let cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Enjoy!