May 4, 2013

Wookiee Cookies for Star Wars Day


Umm, I know this is supposed to be Doctor Who Saturday, but, umm, it's Star Wars Day? You know, May the fourth be with you? And, umm, my like favorite cookies ever are from the Star Wars Cookbook? So, umm, I just, I couldn't do a Doctor Who post on Star Wars Day, because... because I just can't. It's not the right sci-fi franchise, and it would be really wrong and the universe might implode or something.

And, umm, my pictures kind of suck because the sun was starting to set and I was really tired and I didn't notice my camera was on the wrong setting for most of them. So, this may not exactly be my brightest moment as a food blogger. But at least the universe is still intact.

And, I had a lot of fun staging the pictures, even if they are kind of bad.
See that VHS? That's the original Star Wars. From before George Lucas let his inner editor get the best of him. Tsk.

You see, what most people don't realize is that the rebels were fighting against the Empire because the Empire was hogging all the cookies. That's how they lured people to the dark side. Fiendish, but effective. The rebels were all, "hey, everybody should have cookies, not just people that agree with you." And Emperor Palpatine was all, "Whoever controls the cookies, controls the universe."

...

Wait, no, that's Dune.

And Han Solo, you already know he's a smuggler, but did you ever know what exactly he smuggled? That's right, cookies. How do you think he and Chewie met? Obviously Chewie was a black market Wookiee Cookie baker. And he was wanted by the Empire because they needed the recipe to these most delicious cookies. So he teemed up with our favorite scruffy-looking nerf herder cookie smuggler and they went into a mutually beneficial partnership.
And then Luke finds out that it is his destiny to free the cookies from the evil of the Empire. So there's this epic battle between Jedi and Sith Lord to decide who gets the cookies (and you see Han in the background? Can't you just see him saying, "I got your back, kid! We won't let him take back the cookies!")

But then Darth Vader goes, "Luke, [pssht] I am your father [pssht], and you can't have any cookies!"

And Luke goes, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Which is totally justified, because that's just way harsh.

But in the end, they get some help from some spear-wielding teddy bears (because, honestly, who better to save the cookies of the universe?), and they won and they danced around campfires all night eating cookies with magic Force ghosts until everyone had tummy aches and nobody wanted more cookies for a long while.
So a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I mentioned that I didn't really have a go-to chocolate cookie recipe. Except for Wookiee Cookies. But they're not a normal chocolate chip cookie. Oh no. They have cinnamon in them. Which doesn't exactly sound earth-shattering, but it makes a whole world of difference. The soft, yet chewy cookie, the two different kinds of chocolate chips, the brown sugar-y goodness, that all makes them exceptional chocolate chip cookies. But the addition of the cinnamon just adds that little something extra that pushes them light years ahead of any other chocolate chip cookie. These are some of my favorite cookies ever. I make them a lot, and I've never felt the need to adjust the recipe which is just unheard of for meI love them, my family loves them, everybody loves them.

Just, keep a tight reign on your emotions while eating them. Don't want them leading you over to the dark side.

Wookiee Cookies
Yield: About 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars at medium speed. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well after each addition. Gradually fold in the flour, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonful on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, being careful to leave at least 2 inches between each. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to col completely.

Tip: Keep the dough chilled to prevent the cookies from spreading too thin.

Recipe from The Complete Star Wars Cookbook: Wookiee Cookies, Darth Malt, and Other Galactic Recipes

Note: The book linked, The Star Wars Cookbook, is not the same as the one I used; however, it is by the same author and contains the Wookiee Cookie recipe. I was not able to find my copy, The Complete Star Wars Cookbook, to link.