You know that if I make any sort of chocolate chip cookie, there is likely a story behind it. It’s hard to find chocolate chip cookies that are different enough to post on the blog. I got a message from my husband saying that his coworker had a cookie recipe suggestion: these cornmeal chocolate chip cookies. I looked at the reddit post and the recipe was baked on a cookie from A Pinch of Yum. That’s a great blog so I thought I would give it a try.
Cornmeal is an interesting thing. It can be coarse or finely ground. I have course cornmeal that I have used when I made pizza, but I didn’t think it would work in this recipe. I do have other cornmeal, but I don’t think it was very fresh. I didn’t need very much, so I was happy that I was able to find finely-ground cornmeal in the bulk section of the local organic grocery.
You do want to measure everything really accurately, and pay attention to the mixing times, as not over mixing is critical. This is a hands-on recipe, but the chips mixed in easily. The original recipe said you’d make 9 or 12 really big cookies. That seemed crazy big and I ended up making 16 cookies. I still think they are pretty big! The cornmeal is noticeable and gives the cookies a bit of a crunchy texture, but it isn’t too much. I wouldn’t normally look to reddit for recipes, but this one turned out very well!
½ cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.
Microwave the butter until nearly melted, just under a minute. Transfer the (almost) melted butter to a large mixer bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar and mix in medium until creamy. Add the vanilla and egg and mix on low for about 15 seconds. It won’t likely be fully incorporated.
Add the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low until crumbly. Remove from the mixer and press the crumbles together. Add the chips and mix them in by hand.
Shape into 1-3/4” balls and place 8 cookies on each baking sheet.
Bake for 9-11 minutes, until they start to turn golden along the edges. The cookies will be puffy and look underbaked. They will firm up on the baking sheet as they start to cool. Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for at least 30 minutes.
Recipe adapted from Pinch of Yum and reddit
