FOOD 101: Baking classic chocolate chip cookies

This summer, defying 80th birthdays, the Rolling Stones are performing their classics from Boston to Atlanta, from Chicago to Denver. Their decades-younger backup musicians breathlessly try to keep up on “Satisfaction,” “Brown Sugar” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”

Seems the classics are up for a summer revival. Shakespeare in the Park. Bach and Beethoven alfresco. “Casablanca” and “Rear Window” under the stars. Chrome-embellished convertibles parading at festivals.

Classics also prevail on summer tables — potato salad, slaws, hot dogs and burgers on the grill. With weather too steamy to fire up an oven long enough to bake a cake, I venture a shorter burst of oven heat in the cool of the morning or on a rainy day. I make cookies in huge batches to freeze for a sunny day. Always the classics: oatmeal-raisin and chocolate chip.

That latter was born during the Great Depression at the Toll House in Whitman, Massachusetts. Part fact, part fiction, cook Ruth Wakefield ran out of chocolate that day. She broke up a chocolate bar hoping it would melt into the dough for the tiny cookies that enhanced a scoop of ice cream.

Ah, the stuff of legends! A responsible kitchen professional does not run out of product. More likely, Wakefield created the cookie after a few trial runs, until she got what she wanted.

It took the country by storm. Originally called a “chocolate crunch,” then “Toll House” cookie, the recipe was widely requested and printed in newspapers. And, in response to the demand, the candy company, Nestlé, came up with a new convenience product complete with a recipe on the package.

But there’s always more. In the 1980s era of “supersizing,” bakers blew up the cookies’ size, giving them new life at trendy venues where customers bought one or two of the bigger, improved version instead of by the pound. And when “mix-ins” invaded the ice cream parlor, the cookie batter acquired mix-ins, too — chopped walnuts, shredded coconut, dark chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, dried cherries, marshmallows – most recently, becoming an add-in itself, e.g. cookie dough ice cream. The various “bits” work in the recipes printed here.

I like to bake and refrigerate the cookies until quite firm. Then I sandwich them around softened vanilla ice cream. (Chocolate, salted caramel or any ice cream of choice, work too.) While the ice cream is still soft, I roll the edges in chocolate sprinkles, birthday cake sprinkles, chopped walnuts or raisins. I’ve seen them rolled in tiny “red hot” hearts for a spicier edging. I wrap the cookie sandwiches in plastic wrap to stockpile in the freezer until there’s an occasion or a steamy weekend to enjoy. They never last long.

CLASSIC CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Makes 60 to 80 cookies, depending on size of ice cream scoop.

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

1 cup brown sugar

¼ cup granulated white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

— Preheat the oven to 330 degrees. Grease a sheet pan (cookie sheet).
— Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy. Blend in eggs and vanilla.
— Separately sift in the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt). Fold chocolate chips into the batter, allowing them to distribute themselves evenly.
— Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop and drop the batter onto the prepared sheet pan.
— Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, taking them out of the oven while they are still slightly soft. Cool, 5 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.

CLASSIC OATMEAL-RAISIN COOKIES

Makes 40 to 45 cookies, 2½ inches across

Also an American classic cookie, you can treat this oatmeal treat as you would a chocolate chip cookie. Even adding chocolate chips!

1½ cups raisins

2 cups all-purpose white flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

½ cup white granulated sugar

1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1½ tablespoons corn syrup

1½ teaspoons real vanilla extract

1½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats

— Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease (or spray coat) several baking sheets.

— Combine raisins and enough hot water to cover in a bowl. Set aside.

— Use a separate medium bowl to stir together dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt).

— In a large bowl, beat together butter, both sugars until light and smooth, about a minute. Add egg and egg yolk, corn syrup, and vanilla. Beat until blended and fluffy.

— Combine the wet and dry mixtures.

— Drain raisins and dry for a few minutes on paper towels. Add them and the oatmeal to the dough, stirring until all are evenly incorporated.

— Drop heaping teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets allowing a 2-inch space between them.

— Bake one sheet at a time in the center rack of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes. The edges will be lightly browned and nearly firm. Reverse the sheet in the oven halfway through the baking so that they cook evenly.

— Place the cookie sheet on a wire rack for about 2 minutes so that cookies firm up. Transfer each cookie to another wire rack with a spatula. Leave until completely cooled.