Spirited Chocolate Chip Cookies come courtesy of Lisa Keys who created the bourbon chocolate chip cookies in honor of her son, William. His birthday was yesterday and he would have been 26. Lisa also made him a carrot cake with "warm spices and no nuts", which makes me wonder if William did not like nuts or if he just did not like them in carrot cake.
What he did like was bourbon. Lisa mentioned that William liked Jack Daniel's, but I am fairly confident he would have also liked Blanton's, which is what I used. It's a little pricey and I generally do not use it for baking, but we had about 2 tablespoons left and now that it's gone I have a legitimate excuse to buy another bottle.
As it happened, the bourbon was barely detectable, so if you're a bourbon or whiskey fan you may want to serve some bourbon alongside for dunking! The texture of Spirited Chocolate Chip Cookies is dense and soft, but not at all cakey. They remind me of the old Keebler Soft Baked Chocolate Chip cookies but about 100 times better and with more character. Thanks to Lisa for the recipe.
Recipe
Sweet William's Spirited Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ c. unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 12 Tbs. 1 ½ sticks / 6 oz unsalted butter, at room temp.
- 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 large egg at room temp.
- 1 large egg yolk at room temp.
- 2 tablespoons good bourbon or whiskey William liked Jack Daniels
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 12 oz bag semisweet or bittersweet or dark chocolate chips
- ⅔ cup toasted and chopped pecans optional
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325° F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, cream butter, both sugars and corn syrup. Scrape sides of bowl and beat in egg, egg yolk, bourbon and vanilla. By hand or with lowest mixer speed, mix the flour mixture in gradually until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.
- Using a tablespoon, scoop up balls of dough that are about 1 ounce by weight (36 balls) and arrange 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
- Bake until cookies are lightly browned on the edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Katrina says
I just watched her win on Chopped last night! Then I realized I needed to stop by your blog since I haven't been here for a few weeks. When I saw these cookies, I KNEW, okay, wondered, figured, they were this lady's I saw. How fun!
I SO miss you, your blog, making such yummy goodies
Lisa keys says
I am so honored by you and happy you enjoyed my recipe. William did not like nuts.