Hello Recipe Club,

NOTE: I've had a few emails this week about the measurements in the recipes. The first is a measurement using cups or measuring spoons...most popular with home cooks. The second is actual weight...most popular with a professional baker.

The book, The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, features a thorough overview of essential ingredients; complete instructions for making cookie icings, fillings and dips; tips on ingredient substitutes and variations and measuring and weighing ingredients; and even advice on high-altitude baking. Recipes are enhanced with hints, shortcuts, troubleshooting advice and recipe lore. By the way, the book is available at this link from Amazon

Who does not like Chocolate Chip cookies? Raise your hands! If your hand is up...go stand in a corner for 5 minutes!

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The Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Golden brown, craggy from a surfeit of chips, these moist cookies bend, then reluctantly break to reveal a lava-flow of melted chocolate. Truly—if you're a chewy chocolate chip cookie lover, it just doesn't get any better than this! The surprise ingredient? Vinegar. The small amount of vinegar accomplishes two things: it tempers the sweetness of the sugar just a bit, allowing the flavor of the chocolate and butter to shine through, and it reacts with the sodium bicarbonate in the leavener, giving the cookies a little extra lift in the oven. Try it; you'll like it.

Makes 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup(1 1/2 sticks, 6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (5 1/4 ounces) dark brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup (4 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) light corn syrup
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) cider or white vinegar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/4 cups (9 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3 cups (18 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, corn syrup and vinegar, then beat in the eggs. Beat in the vanilla, salt, baking powder and baking soda, then stir in the flour and chips.

Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, until they're just set, the centers may still look a bit undone. Remove them from the oven and transfer them to a rack to cool.

Baking time: 10 minutes

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Deluxe White Chocolate-Macadamia Cookies

White chocolate and light-colored macadamia nuts give a different, "blonder" look to these luxurious cookies. If you're not a fan of white chocolate, feel free to leave it out and go with all semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1 recipe Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe above)
1 cup (6 ounces) white chocolate chips or chunks
1 cup (4 ounces) coarsely chopped, salted macadamia nuts

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Prepare the Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, substituting the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts for 2 cups of the semisweet chips.

Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, until they're just set, the centers may still look a bit undone. Remove them from the oven and transfer them to a rack to cool.

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Gianduja Delights

Gianduja (jahn-DOO-yah) is an ultra-smooth blend of hazelnuts and chocolate, used widely in Italian candies and pastries. We took the liberty of naming these hazelnut-studded cookies after that classic specialty chocolate of Piedmont.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1 recipe Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe above)
2 to 3 teaspoons hazelnut extract or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon strong hazelnut flavor, to taste
1 cup (4 ounces) toasted, chopped hazelnuts
1 cup (6 ounces) white chocolate chips or chunks (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Prepare the Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, replacing the vanilla extract with hazelnut extract or flavor. Substitute toasted, chopped hazelnuts for 1 cup of the semisweet chips. If desired, substitute white chocolate chips or chunks for another cup of the semisweet chips.

Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, until they're just set, the centers may still look a bit undone. Remove them from the oven and transfer them to a rack to cool