Turkish Summers + Chocolate Chip Cookies

For me, summer is the season for picnics and potlucks, marked by evenings of snacks and çay watching the sun paint the sky as it sinks into the Aegean. In Izmir, the bay is always lined with families and friends enjoying the sea breeze. In the summers when the sun doesn’t set until well after 8 pm, it can be hard to find a place to put down a blanket to sit and watch the sunset. But when you do find a space to spread out with your friends, few things are more of a crowd-pleaser than these chocolate chip cookies. They travel well, require no utensils or plates, and go perfectly with a cup of çay.

 This cookie has a caramelly complexity from browned butter, brown sugar, ground oats and cinnamon, a solid crunch with a structured crumb and chopped walnuts, yet all the gooey chocolate you could possibly desire. It is the combination of my favorite aspects of a few different recipes. I wanted a cookie that would give a crunch on the outside and hold together well, but with a soft interior, a bit of saltiness to keep it from being overly sweet, and the complexity of different textures and flavors. 

This recipe is a bit time consuming as it requires for melted browned butter to come to room temperature, so I like to double the recipe ahead of time and keep pre-scooped dough in my freezer. That way, I can bake as few as two cookies for myself in the toaster oven, or a full dozen when friends or neighbors drop by unannounced. It’s a lovely feeling to know you are no more than 20 minutes away from a plate of warm, gooey and crunchy chocolate chip cookies that go perfectly with a cup of tea or coffee. The doubled recipe was enough for me to bring to 4 events.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup oats 
• 2 ¼ cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup butter
• ¾ packed brown sugar (1 tbs molasses (pekmez) + 1 cup sugar = 1 cup brown sugar)
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp lemon juice
• 2 large eggs
• 3 cups dark chocolate chips
• 1 ½ cups chopped walnuts

Instructions:

1. Brown butter in saucepan. Transfer into a bowl; place in fridge for up to 2 hours until room temperature.
2. Pulse oats in a blender or food processor until oats are fine, but still retain some structure. Mix all dry ingredients except sugars (and chips and nuts).
3. Cream room temperature butter and sugars. (If you’re in Turkey and don’t have brown sugar, mix 1 Tbs of pekmez (grape molasses) per cup of white sugar until well-incorporated, and keep in an airtight container.) Add vanilla, lemon juice and eggs one at a time. Stir until smooth. 
4. Slowly add dry ingredients until sticky dough forms. Fold in chips and nuts.
5. Scoop dough with ¼ cup. Freeze dough. 
6. Preheat oven to 185 C. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Take out a few scoops of dough, placing them 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown on the edges, but still slightly under-baked. If you enjoy a salty sweet taste, sprinkle a pinch of salt while the cookies are hot.
7. Let cool for 5 minutes. Eat while warm. 

Let me know how the recipe turned out for you! What kind of chocolate chip cookie do you prefer?