Flat and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

My son tore this recipe out of the October issue of Saveur Magazine, folded it up neatly and said, "Mom, this recipe for flat and chewy chocolate chip cookies sure sounds good and I was hoping that you would make them." I said that sounds great, I would love to make them. The next day, my memory was jogged again because he had neatly laid out a bag of freshly cracked hazelnuts from this year's crop on the counter, right next to the recipe. I got right on it!! I love to make/bake things that are requested, especially when everything is laid out so nicely!

First I roasted the hazelnuts in a 300 degree oven for about 30 minutes. The kitchen is filled with the smell of roasted hazelnuts when they are ready to come out of the oven. Just to make sure they are complete, I take one off of the pan and set it aside to let it cool for a few minutes. I then bite into it and if it is nicely brown (not too much) and has a nice crunch to it, they are ready. When hazelnuts are over done, they have a very unpleasant burned smell. You don't want to use them if they have gone too far because they don't taste good and they will ruin your recipe.

After the nuts had cooled, I placed them in a small chopper and gave it a few whirls. The recipe called for finely ground (walnuts, actually) nuts, but I didn't want them to be too finely ground. I wanted a little texture so that you would be aware that there were nuts. 

The recipe also called for finely shaved chocolate. I tried a couple different graters, but all I got was fluff. I used a knife and shaved the chocolate off of the bar so that there was a little substance to it. Who wants a bite of a chocolate chip cookie with no actual chips and no real sensation of chocolate in your mouth? Not us.

After I mixed up the cookie dough, I covered it and placed it in the refrigerator, setting the timer for 30 minutes. They weren't chilled all the way through, so for convenience sake, I set time timer for an hour. The dough was chilled all the way through, but it was still very soft and easy to work with. I scooped the dough out with my smallest scoop, just a little over a tablespoonful, and rolled them into balls. I then tried using a cup to flatten them, per the recipe, but they were sticking to the bottom of the cup. I ended up placing a piece of wax paper over the top of them and smashed them down as thin as I could get them. That worked perfectly and the wax paper peeled right off. 

While they were in the oven, I was surprised that they almost doubled in size. They puffed up and then they went back down and right about then, they looked like they were set. Make sure your oven temperature is accurate because 15 minutes might be too long. I baked my first tray 15 minutes; too crisp. The second tray was in the oven for 13 minutes; still a little on the crispy side. The third tray baked for 10 minutes and they were perfect. I'm thinking the oven is  baking a little too hot.

These cookies are rich with chocolate and hazelnuts

Enjoy!