Dessert “Turducken” – Day One – Chocolate Chip Cookies
My husband has been a bit put off the past couple of recipes. He’s not a big fan of the fruity desserts, so I decided to make him all of his favorites for his Father’s Day dessert. I made him a three layer dessert that has everything that he loves. There’s a Chocolate Chip Cookie layer topped with Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and then finished off with a Chocolate Cake.
Saying he was pleased would be a bit of an understatement.
To start off, I made one of the best chocolate chip cookie recipes that I have. It’s been my go-to recipe for a while and I love it. The cookies come out crisp on the edges and soft in the center. I’ve also loaded them up with standard sized chips, mini chips and walnuts.
Last weekend I watched Todd and Diane of White of Rice do a show on Creative Live. They did three days demonstrating their food photography, food styling, and discussing working for clients and taking photos.
I learned a lot from watching the shows.
I learned that I know more than I give more credit for.
And I learned that I need to venture outside of my comfort zone a bit more.
I think this is my first back-lit photo that I’ve intentionally done.
Personally, I am not a fan of the blown-out backgrounds. I like the look and feel of the dark, sultry photos that I do here on the blog. But I figured that would give it a try to see what happens.
I wasn’t thrilled with the dark cookies and I did have to brighten up the front of them for post processing. What do you think of the photo above? Let me know if I’m being too critical.
I also played with more shadowing. I like to let as much light in the room as well as into my camera. That means lots of diffused bright light and ISO settings under 400. This photos was intentionally shadowed and the ISO was adjusted to 1200. I think it still looks great. You can see the brown wood and the cookies looked toasty.
So, what do you think? Should I keep experimenting with back lighting? Play more with manipulating the shadows? I’m excited to keep growing my photography skills.
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
- 10½ oz Flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 12 tablespoon Butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
- ½ cup Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Chocolate Chips
- 1 cup Mini Chocolate Chips
- 1 cup Walnuts, chopped
- Preheat oven to 325℉.
- Cream the melted butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients.
- Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts by hand.
- Measure out 2 Tbls of batter per cookie and place it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.
- Roll the cookie dough smooth, pull it apart in half, point the "ripped" centers up and reattach the two halves. Do not smooth again. Place it into the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Bake for 15 minutes watching not to burn.
- Let cool for 5 minutes on the pan then move to a cooling rack.
Your pictures look great! I’ll take a chocolate chip cookie any day. I watched that creative live class with Todd and Diane as well. It was amazing! I wish I could take their class they offer at their studio. Anyway, nice work, Karyn!
It was a great show. I learned a lot and I’m going to try and more of their ideas to my photography. I’ve come a long way, but I can always improve!
These cookies look great and I love the backlit photo.
I told you ages ago that my camera took a swim in the ocean… well my husband got it working again. Thanks for posting what you did to get your photos looking the way they do. I’m still trying things out.
I am pinning your recipe to try the next time I do chocolate chip cookies.
I have clicked on several different recipes of yours on several different link parties. Needless to say, I think I’m a fan! Love these cookies!
So happy to have you here! Thanks for stopping in so often!
I need at least 6 of these right now! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!
There’s just something about a simple chocolate chip cookies that can make everything better.
Just curious why the directions say to rip the cookie dough in half and then put back together with the ripped sides facing up. I’ve never heard of that before.
It helps to give the cookies that bakery fresh look with the crinkley, uneven top and edges. It’s a technique I learned from America’s Test Kitchen.