I have a confession to make.
My name is Natasha, and I am a sweeper.
It’s a term Mr. Man (aka my boyfriend), jokingly coined because I have developed the awful habit of sweeping everything I don’t want to deal with right. Under. The. Carpet.
Right under there.
I don’t know why I do it. I don’t have confidence issues. I don’t shy away from conflict or confrontation when something (or someone) irks me. And I’m pretty freaking opinionated.
So why on earth I push everything I don’t want to face far, far out of my mind? I have no idea.
It would probably be much easier to just face the issue front on. Like a dude. You know, do that whole plan/action/solution thing.
That’s just so not me though. Instead of dealing with a big decision, or confrontation, or a problem, I swweeeeeeeep it. It’s like, if I ignore it for long enough, it’ll go away or something (I’m deluding myself, I know).
But it’s just so much easier to pretend the issue doesn’t exists and like… go out for cocktails with girlfriends or something. And like, eat cheese. And have a laugh. Much more fun.
And it’s just so much more fun to say “I don’t want to talk about it” and go and bake something yummy instead. You know?
Today I’m sweeping. I baked. I photographed. And edited. And I’m blogging. In real time (that never happens). I’m avoiding thinking/talking about/facing the decision I have to make. At all costs.
So instead? We have cookies. Again, I know. But are you really complaining? I didn’t think so.
I watched this video the other day, which involved a new method for making chocolate chip cookie dough. The original, real Mrs. Fields recipe, apparently. Not this mythical one.
I jumped all over it, obviously. And they’re pretty awesome! They bake up super thick and puffy, they are chewy right through. They challenge all the typical ideas that come with cookie-baking, but they’re worth it, promise!
Now, back to sweeping…
- 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- ½ cup white sugar
- 220g salted butter, cold and cubed small (1 cup)
- ½ tsp instant espresso powder
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2½ cups plain flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 cups finely chopped chocolate
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine both sugars. Add the cold, cubed butter and mix on a medium-low speed until a grainy paste forms.
- Add the vanilla, espresso powder and the eggs, one at a time, mixing until they are just combined. You don't want to dissolve the sugars.
- Add the flour, baking soda, salt and chocolate, mixing until they are just incorporated and form a dough.
- Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 150 C (300 F) and line trays with baking paper.
- Use a cookie scoop or large tablespoon to scoop even balls of dough onto the prepared trays, leaving room for spreading.
- Bake for 20 - 22 minutes, until the cookies bounce back when lightly pressed in the center.
- Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack immediately. Makes 36 cookies.
- Happy baking!
Adapted from Mrs Fields via Yum Sugar.