Cooking Lesson #18— Thin & Crispy Itty-Bitty Chocolate Bits Cookies

How you doin’? After these 42 days in quarantine you deserve a little sweetness. If you’re feeling trapped these delicate cookies will help you escape to a new world (in your mind or at least your mouth!). These fragile goodies are ultra-thin chocolate bit cookies that are shatteringly crisp with a distinctive caramel flavor thanks to brown sugar, oats and bittersweet chocolate bits.
 
They are a major departure from mainstream chocolate chip cookies, as these ultra-thin chocolate bit cookies are large, very flat and super crispy. They shatter dramatically when you bite them, releasing bursts of caramel and bittersweet chocolate flavor. It’s almost a religious experience—one taste of these heaven-sent treats and you’ll find yourself falling to your knees in reverence. Pray to the cookie! At least pray for more.
 
Prep time:  20 Minutes
Rest/Chill time: 3 hours to overnight
Bake time:  20-21 Minutes
Yield:  Makes 16-17 5-inch cookies
 
Ingredients
 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons (1-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup (Karo)
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks
 
Directions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda.
2. In a large bowl and with a rubber spatula, mix together the melted butter, oats, sugars, corn syrup, milk, and salt.
3. Mix in the flour mixture. If the batter is still a little warm from the butter, let it cool to room temperature before adding the chocolate. Stir in the chocolate chunks.
4. If possible, let the dough rest for at least several hours at room temperature or covered overnight in the fridge. (The resting time makes for an especially crisp and extra-flavorful cookie. If you refrigerate the dough, you will need to let it come to room temperature before you’re able to portion it into cookies.)
5. Preheat an oven to 325°F (conventional oven only).
6. Position the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
7. Place 3 large sheets of aluminum foil, cut to fit your baking sheets, on the counter.
8. Divide the dough into 15 equal scoops of about 2 tablespoons each. Arrange 5 rounds of dough well apart on each sheet of foil, situating 4 in a square and 1 in the center.
9. Flatten each piece of dough until it is about 3 inches in diameter. Slide two of the sheets of foil onto baking sheets.
10. Bake for an initial 10 to 12 minutes. Rotate the sheets from top to bottom and front to back to ensure even baking.
11. Bake for an additional 10-13 minutes, until the cookies are thin and very brown. If the finished cookies are too pale, they will not be crisp. Watch the cookies carefully as they turn brown or burn quickly.
12. Carefully, slide the cookies and foil onto wire cooling racks to cool completely before removing the cookies from the foil. Repeat steps 8-11 for the third batch—you can slide the last sheet of foil and cookie dough onto a hot baking sheet as long as you bake them immediately.
13. Cool the cookies completely before stacking or storing. The cookies can be kept in an airtight container for at least 3 days.

ChefSecret:  

• The foil helps to make the cookies really crispy. If you use parchment or a silpat you will get a different result.
• These cookies will not spread in a convection oven, so bake them only in a conventional oven.
• You want to squash the dough flat before baking.
• Be sure to keep a watchful eye over the cookies so the sugars caramelize but do not scorch. They brown quickly on the foil!

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