Chocolate Chip Cookies (or Bars) Cockaigne

That’s right…I said cockaigne.  Sounds dirty doesn’t it?

I originally found this cookie recipe while thumbing through the Joy of Cooking and thought it was a nice alternative to the classic chocolate chip cookie.  It has some additional ingredients like ground oatmeal and a second kind of chocolate that make it kind of special.  Kind of cockaigney don’t you think?

Okay, okay, I had no idea what cockaigne meant when I first came across the recipe. Though, I did have a fantasy that the recipe was developed in a tiny village in the South of France where the baker lived alone save for her trusted and loyal pet rooster.  A little research revealed no such romantic tale.  In fact, my little research revealed very little about the word and its relationship to food.  According to the OED, the term refers to a mythical land of plenty and good (not the other way around).  Another source revealed that at some point in the last 200 years, it was used specifically to describe the city of London.  As in cockney.

Okay.

Not real sure what all that has to do with a cookie recipe, gov’ner.

A little more digging and I’ve come to suspect that the use of the word cockaigne is related more to the authors of the Joy of Cooking than the recipe’s origin as it appears in a couple other recipe titles.  So in a culinary context, I suppose the adjective cockaigne is a little something like “supreme” or “surprise.”

Works for me.

In the photos below, I’m making them as bars and have one-and-a-halved the recipe. I needed to make a lot of bars.  The same principles apply to the bar version as they do to the original cookie version.

I started at the end because it involved the food processor (that’s right, Bessy was in the house).  First, I ground up some quick oats.

Then I ground up some white chocolate.  The original recipe calls for milk chocolate but I thought I’d be rebellious and go white (if white chocolate is actually really chocolate at all…it’s kind of like a panda bear in that way).

I then looked around for something else to grind.  Alas, finding nothing but my teeth (oh come on, you knew I was going to say this), I moved on to creaming together butter and sugar.  I then added in the dry ingredients…but obviously didn’t take any pictures of it.

No need to rest or refrigerate the dough.  Right into the pan (or onto the sheet it goes).

Into the oven and out it comes golden brown and definitely cockaigne.

Let cool and cut as desired.  I realize this blog has been very bar heavy as of late.  I’ve got two more bar recipes to share and then we’ll move on.  Perhaps to the rhombus.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Cockaigne

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• ¾ C sugar
• 2/3 C golden brown sugar
• 1 egg (I use extra large)
• 1 1/2 TBS milk
• 1 TBS vanilla
• 1 2/3 C flour
• 1 ¼ t baking soda
• ¾ t baking powder
• ¼ t salt
• 1 1/3 C ground quick oats (grind them in the food processor)
• 1 C chocolate chips
• 3 oz grated milk chocolate (I use ground white chocolate…though its good both ways)

Cream butter until light and fluffy.  Add in sugars and cream. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla.

While butter is creaming, in a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, soda and salt.  Set aside.

Once wet ingredients are thoroughly mixed, add in flour mixture and combine until dough just comes together. Stir in oats, chocolate chips and milk/white chocolate until just combined.

For cookies: spoon on to parchment-lined baking sheets, two inches apart and bake until golden, 8-12 minutes.

For bars: oil and line with parchment 9X13 baking pan.  Spread-out dough evenly (I find that the parchment likes to scrunch around.  To keep it from moving, I hold it in place in one corner with a finger and the carefully spread the dough using a spatula with the other hand)  Bake for about 30 minutes until golden brown.