TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE: RASPBERRY JAM AND CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Peanut butter and Jelly, Bacon and Eggs, Biscuits and Gravy, Salted Caramel, Pizza and Beer, Ham and Cheese.  What do all of these things have in common?  Each of them starts with one perfect ingredient and adds another perfect ingredient to come together in a more perfect union!

Add to that list Raspberry Jam and Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Honestly, I can’t take credit for this idea.  We were hiking and stopped at our local Whole Foods to pick up some food for lunch.  I was in charge of snacks, so when I saw the small packet of Raspberry Jam and Chocolate Chip Cookies from a local baker, I thought, “Yup.  Gotta try that”. (Chocolate and raspberry being one of my favorite combinations).

I can take no credit for this idea!

The cookies were everything I hoped they would be, rich with chocolate with a pop of flavor from the raspberry.  The jam added a slightly chewy texture to the soft chocolate cookie.  It was a real winner and the thing was it didn’t seem like it would be hard to replicate.

So that’s what I did.

I started with the cookie.  For that I reached for a classic and went straight to the back of the Nestle’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip packet for the Toll House Cookie recipe.

Beat the butter and sugar together, add the eggs one at a time, then flour and fold in the chips.

Once the batter was made, the question was how to add the raspberry jam.

I tried three different methods:

• I flattened the unbaked cookie and spread raspberry jam over the top
• I made a small indentation in the top of the unbaked cookie and filled it with jam, and
• I baked a cookie with the intention of spreading jam on the hot cookie.
  

  My three methods!

This did not turn out as I thought it would.  I figured the first option would be the best but it wasn’t.  The jam slid off the cookie as it baked and burned on the tray.

The cookie with the filled indentation spread out as it baked and dragged the jam along with it, making a nice jammy topping.

I put the third option in just in case but it came out the way I thought it would, a baked cookie with jam spread on top.

The best results came from filling an thumbprint indentation in the unbaked cookie with jam.

So here is the recipe.  You can use other jams if you like. Strawberry would be a classic.  Make sure you bake the cookies to a deep brown, it will cook around the edges before the section under the jam is fully baked.  And use a good quality jam for the best flavor!

5 from 1 vote

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RASPBERRY JAM AND CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 4 Dozen

Author Susan Murray, www.awomancooksinasheville.com

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ c flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 c butter softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups 1 package chocolate chips
• 1/3 c raspberry jam
• 3/4 c sugar
• 3/4 c light brown sugar packed

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix together flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
3. Beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
5. Stir in the flour mixture until combined.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips. Drop rounded tablespoons of batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Using the back of a wet spoon, make a small indentation in the center of each cookie. Fill the indentation with ¼ tsp raspberry jam.
8. Bake for 11-14 minutes until cookies are golden brown. Cool on the tray for a minute before moving to a wire rack to cool.