Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tomorrow is a big day.  I'm running a half marathon.  It will be my third half marathon.  The last half marathon I ran was two years ago this month.

Even though I am older, I am better prepared.  I am confident that I will run faster than two years ago.     I'm getting well hydrated tonight, and I'm going to go to sleep early.  

Almonds come from the Middle East.  The tree is called an almond tree.  The seeds, which are what we eat, are also called almonds.  The seeds are not nuts but drupes.  A drupe has a fleshy hull that surrounds a hard shell.  Mangos, coffee, and olives are all drupes.

Wild almonds are bitter.  The kernel of wild almonds emit cyanide when handled.  Even though they are not native to the Americas,  the United States is the largest producer of almonds.

These cookies have almonds and almond extract.  Almond extract is made from alcohol, water, and almond oil.  Almond oil is extracted from almonds.  Most almond extracts combine almond oil with the oil from stone fruits like apricot, peaches, or plums.  

The original chocolate chip cookie recipe came from allrecipes.  I have used this recipe before, and it always turns out well.  I replaced the walnuts with almonds and the vanilla extract with almond extract.  The original recipe also has you mix the baking soda with hot water before adding the baking soda to the dough.  I never do this.  I just add the dry baking soda to the dough.

The ingredients are 1 cup softened butter, 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons almond extract, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, and 1 cup chopped almonds.

I added the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar into a bowl.  I creamed the butter and sugar for a few minutes until it was creamy and smooth.

  

I beat in the eggs one at a time.

I added the almond extract and stirred it into the creamed sugar and butter mixture.

I added the baking soda, salt, and flour.  I stirred the batter together.

I added the chopped almonds and chocolate chips.  I stirred until just combined.

The dough was thick and delicious.

I greased a baking sheet and added globs of dough  onto the sheet two inches from each other.  I just learned one of my roommates has this nifty cookie scoop.  Very useful!

I baked the cookies for ten minutes at 350 degrees.

I let the cookies cool on the pan for a few minutes after taking them from the oven.

After a few minutes, I put the cookies on a wire rack to cool.

These cookies are superb.  I enjoyed them more than regular chocolate chip cookies.  The almonds had a nice buttery flavor and welcoming scent.

The edges become golden and caramelized in the oven.  The center was tender.

The chocolate chips were creamy and luscious.

The cookies had an elegant and refined flavor, but they were still simple and homey.  They were scrumptious and desirable.  This is one of my favorite versions of chocolate chip cookies.  I give these cookies two enthusiastic thumbs up.