So we have passed our first week in our new house in the Itri hills in Italy. It was a week of hauling our things to the new house an hour and a half away. A hectic week of getting situated and figuring out how things work in the new place. But what better way to cozy up in a new house then to bake a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies?
Among the chaos of moving I found myself in my new and strange kitchen searching for the mixing bowls and mixer, flour and baking soda. How do I turn this oven on anyway? Oh man, we don’t have any baking sheets (houses in Italy often come furnished as this one was and our last house). Often I realize something I had gotten very used to using was actually not mine but belonged to the previous house. Can openers, ladles, baking sheets, sauce pans, you name it, I’ve needed it and alas, it wasn’t there.
Anyway, to tell the truth, the exercise of making this batch of cookies was never about actually baking them. No, I was having a serious craving for frozen cookie dough….come on, we all have our guilty pleasures, what’s yours? Mine is frozen cookie dough. So sans a baking sheet, this batch will be made into a log and wrapped in wax paper and placed in the freezer for my secret little trip to the kitchen to snatch a glob of cookie dough.
I still will use the ruse that I may actually bake some cookies, I mean, you never know, some guests may stop by and I can always throw a batch of fresh chocolate chip cookies into the oven….after I buy some baking sheets that is…
Chocolate chip cookies are a very American thing, but I haven’t met anyone yet who doesn’t like them, what’s not to love? Chocolate chips, walnuts, brown sugar and butter. But they are not so easy to make in Italy. It’s not easy to find chocolate chips so I buy a large chocolate bar and chunk it up myself. It’s also near to impossible to find brown sugar, of course I can find white sugar and I can find “Integrale” (whole or raw) sugar, which means it has not had the molasses removed. I found that if I add a 1/4 cup of “integrale” sugar to 3/4 cup white sugar the result is pretty close. If I try to use all “integrale” sugar the result is “molasses” tasting cookies. It’s also difficult to find vanilla in a bottle so I use what the Italians use, powdered or “essence” of vanilla. The result appears to be the same. So after all of that improvising, almost burning my mixer up with butter that was too stiff and using too small of a bowl for mixing and spraying butter all over my new kitchen (good way to initiate it), I finally had my much desired cookie dough ready to form into a log and laid to rest in my freezer drawer. It will sleep quietly there until the next craving hits me.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.
- add the egg and vanilla, continue to beat
- add the flour, soda and salt and stir together
- add chocolate chips and walnuts, stir until incorporated
- bake for 10 minutes
If you would like more reading and recipes from cooking American style in Italy try one from our Archives:
Ideas from Around the World:
Asian Cuisine:
Shrimp Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce (Published August 18, 2017)
Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef Salad (Bun Bo Xoa) Published March 12, 2018
Gyoza (Potstickers or Chinese Dumplings) Published August 27,2018)
Kung Pao Chicken (Published August 23, 2018)
Chinese Broccoli Beef (Published November 8, 2018)
Italian Cuisine:
Pesto Genovese (published September 21, 2018
Saltimbocca (Roman Style Veal Scallopini) (Published February 18, 2018)
Steamed Mussels and Fettuccine (Cozze e Fettuccine) Published May 4, 2019)
Shrimp Risotto (Risotto alla Gamberi) Published June 2, 2018)
Pasta Carbonara (Published May 12, 2018)
Arancini (Italian Fried Rice Balls) Published June 4, 2018)
Ossobuco alla Milanese (Milan Style Veal Shanks & Saffron Risotto) Published June 20, 2018)
Lasagna Bolognese (Published Aug 3, 2018)
Eggplant Parmesan (Published August 29, 2018)
Cacio e Pepe (Published August 28, 2018)
Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage butter (published October 2, 2018)
Polenta with Sausage and Port Rib Ragu (published November 9, 2018)
Polenta “french fries” (published November 14, 2018)
Pumpkin Risotto (Zucca) (published November 7, 2018)
Jewish Style Fried Artichokes (Carciofi all Giudia) 9published October 13, 2018)
Porcini Fettuccine (published October 12, 2018)
Beef and Barley Soup (Zuppa alla Manzo e Farro) published October 6, 2018
Homemade Pasta and Spinach Ricotta Ravioli (Published Dec 2, 2018)
Roman Style Artichokes (Carciofi alla Romana) Published Dec 16, 2018)
Octopus Carpaccio (published December 23, 2018)
Chicken Cacciatore (published December 24, 2019)
Grandma Eleanor’s Beef & Spinach Ravioli (published February 9, 2019
Portabella Mushroom Pizza’s (Published February 16,2019)
Bagna Cauda (Northern Italian Fondue) (Published March 20, 2019)
American Cuisine:
Southern Fried Chicken (published September 11, 2018)
Spiced Chickpea Salad with Roasted Cauliflower (Published April 22, 2018)
Beef Bone Broth (published September 24, 2018)
Classic American Hamburger (published September 25, 2018)
Oven Roasted Herb Chicken (published September 29, 2018)
Turkey Dinner with all of the Fixings! (Published January 19, 2019)
Jalapeno Poppers (Published February 15, 2019)
Carrot Ginger Soup (Published February 25, 2019)
Shish Kebabs (Published March 9, 2019)
Chili Relleno Casserole (Published March 6, 2019)
Mexican Cuisine:
Shrimp Tacos (Published September 19, 2018)
Chili Rellinos (published August 16, 2018)
Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup (November 19, 2018)
Pasole (Mexican Soup) (January 25, 2019)
Mexican Beef Fajitas (Keto Adaptable) Febuary 4, 2019
Enchiladas (Published January 6, 2019)
Other Dishes of the World:
Paella (Published November 21, 2018)
Babaganush (Middle Eastern Roasted Eggplant Dip) Published July 29, 2017
Beef Vindaloo (Indian) Published December 13, 2018
French Onion Soup (Published December 12, 2018)
Chicken Cordon Bleu (Published February 10, 2019)
Swiss Fondue (Published May 17, 2019)
Desserts:
Cherry Pie (published May 20, 2017)
Homemade Berry Pie (published July 23, 2017)
Almond Roca (published February 22, 2018)
Homemade Banana Cream Pie (published May 10, 2018)
Cannoli (published August 3, 2017)
Easy Authentic Tiramasu (published May 3, 2018)
Ooey Gooey Blonde Brownies (published August 11, 2018)
Old Fashioned Peach Crisp (published August 1, 2018
Classic Canned Peaches (published August 8, 2018)
Noyaux (Almond Extract made from stone fruit pits) Published August 7, 2017
Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream (Published May 25, 2017
Fudgy Chocolate Brownies (published September 30, 2018)
Classic American Apple PIe (published November 17, 2018)
Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Mousse and Berry Sauce (published October 10, 2018)
Cinnamon Spiced Persimmon Cookies (published November 23, 2018)
Pumpkin Crumble Cake (Published March 7, 2019)
Pavlova (Published March 20, 2019)
