Still good for dunking

Light Chocolate Chip Cookies
The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook Copyright 2006

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup packed light brown sugar
4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (a generous ½ cup)

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the butter, egg and vanilla together. Stir in the brown sugar until smooth, smearing any remaining clumps of sugar against the side of the bowl. Stir in the flour mixture and 3 ounces (a generous 1/3 cup) of the chocolate chips until thoroughly combined.
3. Working with a level tablespoon of dough at a time, roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Lays the balls on two parchment-paper lined baking sheets, spaced about 2 ½ inches apart. Press the remaining chips into the top of the dough (2 or 3 chips per cookie).
4. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until the edges are light golden and the centers are just set, 9 to 11 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through (do not overbake). Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and then let cool completely. bake the second sheet while the first sheet cools.

Makes 2 dozen. Per cookie: 100 cal, 3.5 g fat, 15 mg chol, 16 g carbs, 1g protein, 30 mg sodium.
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I did a lot of cooking this weekend and suffered a lot of disappointment. Almost everything was 'off'. I tried several 'light' recipes and maybe I just expecting too much. I was really trying to throw myself back into cooking so this was very disheartening.

These cookies were okay. At first they had a crisp bottom and chewy top but in less than a day they were entirely crispy (very crispy). Personally, I think that at 100 calories per cookie, these should have been better. America's Test Kitchen values quality above all else, which is why these still have quite a few calories in them but that's also why I'm surprised these weren't better. I made these mainly for my son who has been talking about 'chocolate chippers' quite a bit lately and he enjoyed one a few hours after I made them but now I think he might chip a tooth on one if I gave him another. I'll have to teach him how to dunk.

This is still a great cookbook. 'Light' just really isn't their thing but I give them credit for trying and including a light section.

Blast From the Past: Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies from June 2006. That was a better 'light' chocolate chip cookie recipe, in my opinion.

Question of the Day: Do you ever feel as if you're swimming through mud? That's how I feel lately.