Cakey Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Chip Pecan Cookies

Simple everyday sorts of things...

Homemade chocolate chip cookies are simple...If I ever actually become a mom there will forever be cookie dough in my refrigerator.

Morning runs are one of life's simple pleasures...well at least for me.  

I need to share this spot with you, this one path is my single favorite spot on my run through Old Town Alexandria.  The temperature along this path is generally cooler than the rest of my run, and it smells like the mountains of North Carolina and summers at CCC.

Jazz in the sculpture garden is one of life's simple pleasures in DC during the summer.  Plus when else do you get to have a picnic, drink wine and enjoy jazz right next to the National Mall.

These are simple tools, they are my favorite baking gadgets, and a lot of it has to do with the person who gave each one to me. My spatula with its crooked handle from Charles; one of my first gifts from him...before he really even knew how much of a baker I was...

My icing knife I bought for myself when I thought I was going to try and be a slightly more serious baker...I decided I had out grown the butter knife...

My whisk from my mother is my ABSOLUTE favorite...it has everything to do with its construction, the weight, the handle size and the closeness of the whisks' wires.  She is who I really need to thank because she has supplied almost all of my baking tools from the very beginning...

And my cookie scoop from Jo given to me years ago, when I didn't even know there was such a thing as a cookie scoop.  

I know he is quoted often, but these simple words really say a lot.  They have been on my notebooks at work since this past fall, and every now again I just have to step back and remember.

So the cookies, which were actually made for a friend also going to Jazz, but with a different group...

These cookies are a new recipe for this blog, but a cookie recipe I have been using for a while. They turn out fluffier than the normal chocolate chip cookies I make, resulting in cakey quality.  Also, I am still am not sure what it is, but recently I am loving the chocolate chip - butterscotch chip combination; plus the pecans give a really nice crunch too.  So, if need a cookie that travels well or you have a craving for a chocolate chip cookie with a bit of a twist give them a try.

Cakey Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Chip Pecan Cookies: (Recipe adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe)

*makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

3/8 cup light brown sugar

3/8 cup white sugar

1 egg, slightly beaten 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda in 1 tablespoon hot water

1 1/8 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1.  In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars.  Then mix in the egg, vanilla extract and baking soda mixture until well combined.

2.  In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.  Then mix these dry ingredients in to the wet ingredients, just until combined.

3.  Fold in the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and pecan.  Then place in the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  (I used this time to clean up the mess I somehow always seem to make hen baking.)

4.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

5.  Using a one inch cookie scoop, drop heaping scoopfuls of dough on to cookie sheet approximately 2 inches apart.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or golden brown and just set in the middle. Let cool on cookies sheet for 1-2 minutes then remove to cooling rack.  Let finish cooling or eat while fresh out of the oven...either way, just make sure to have a glass of milk on hand.  Enjoy!