We’re in crunch time, guys. It is two weeks until the wedding of my dear friends Nikki and Jake, and I am feeling the pressure. This is my first time as Maid of Honor and, don’t tell Nikki, but I’m totally not qualified for this job. I may have fudged my resume a little bit. Apparently, the whole “I got married two years ago,” thing was enough for her, but I failed to mention the fact that I haven’t taken any continuing education courses on wedding planning since then.
There’s a bag of fabric that needs to be made into bunting. Some bachelorette party T-shirts that need designing. Some cocktail syrup and picture frames that need buying. Aaand I need to find out how to transport a bunch of cake stands to Iowa without breaking them. Hey, at least I got the shoes under control. (Like, three days ago, because I’m clearly on top of things.)
It will all be worth it because these two deserve an amazing wedding and this is definitely going to be one. If an Anthropologie catalog and a Mumford & Sons music video made sweet, gentle love and then gave birth to an event, I think this would be it. At least, that’s what I’m anticipating.
With all these major wedding plans going down (and the baby sprinkle I threw last weekend), I haven’t had much time or energy for hardcore inventing in the kitchen. My notebook is full of ideas, but I am lagging in actual execution. One night a few weeks ago, I declared, “Ugh! I just want some plain old chocolate chip cookies!” And then these magically came out of my oven, because I never know when to leave well enough alone. I don’t regret it. One. Bit.
Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies
yield: 24 cookies
2½ cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cups (170 grams) unsalted butter
1 cup (200 grams) dark brown sugar
½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cherry extract
1 cup (170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup (90 grams) dried cherries
Preheat oven to 325° F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon mats.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cube half of the butter and place in a medium bowl. Melt remaining butter in a small saucepan. Pour hot liquid butter into bowl of butter cubes and stir until all butter is melted.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat melted butter and both sugars 2 minutes at medium speed. Add egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and cherry extract and mix until combined.
Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add flour mixture. When just combined, add chocolate chips and cherries and mix on low speed to distribute. Remove from stand mixer and stir a few times with a rubber spatula to make sure chips and cherries are evenly spread out.
Scoop dough with medium disher, roll into balls, and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until edges look like they’ve set up, rotating pans from back to front and top to bottom halfway through. Cool on sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely, or eat them while they’re still warm!
Source: siftandwhisk.com (defunct blog)
