Pistachio-Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

The holiday season is in full swing here in Philadelphia, potato gobblers-- the row homes are decked out in their gaudiest blinking lights and Santa displays, radio stations have begun to blast only Christmas music and the shopping areas have that frantic energy that only the holidays can bring.

My girl and I have pledged not to get caught up in the consumeristic madness this season; we are trying instead to focus on spending time with the people that we love and giving gifts that are personal and homemade. Or at the very least, locally made.

So it seemed very much in the spirit of our pledge when I discovered this lovely recipe swap via the gorgeous blog Burwell General Store. The premise is pretty simple: each month Christianna chooses a recipe from a very old cookbook entitled The Second Ford Treasury of Favorite Recipes from Famous Eating Places, which she found at a junk store. She posts the recipe and invites bloggers from all over the world to update and tweek it and make it their own.
Appropriately enough for this season of baking, this month's recipe was for the famous Toll House chocolate chip cookies. Now merely a brand name, the Toll House Inn was an actual inn and restaurant in Massachusetts and was the birthplace of the chocolate chip cookie, thanks to the pastry genius of Ruth Graves Wakefield.

It's difficult to improve upon a classic like this, but in the spirit of the holidays, I decided to tip my hat to my dad and incorporate some festive flavors into these cookies.

My dad is very serious about his desserts, and his chocolate pairings specifically. One of his favorite combinations is orange and chocolate, and when we were little, we used to slip a chocolate orange ball every year into his stocking, delighting in the ritual of him whacking it on the table to share the chocolate-y slices with us.

Orange and chocolate and ginger and holiday spices combine in my adaptation for a very festive cookie indeed. Because I just couldn't resist slipping a little whole wheat flour into the mix to make the cookies just a tiny bit more health-supportive, the cookies have a chewy, toothsome texture that stands up well to the bold flavors.

So don't stress, beet freaks-- make some festive cookies, pour yourself a cocktail and surround yourself by your favorite people this holiday season. And please check out my amazing fellow swappers adaptations of the original recipe by clicking through the links below the recipe.

Bain taitneamh as do bheil!

PREP TIME: about 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 10-15 minutes

MAKES: about 12 cookies (not 50, as the original recipe indicates!)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 cup roasted, salted & shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon orange zest, finely minced
• 2 tablespoons candied ginger, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Cream butter and sugars together. Add beaten egg to mixture and stir to thoroughly combine.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together baking soda, flours, salt, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Add to creamed sugar bowl and stir to combine.
3. Add pistachios, orange zest, candied ginger, chocolate chips and vanilla extract. Stir to just combine.
4. Line two sheet trays with parchment paper and scoop dough into even balls, about 2 inches apart. (I used an ice cream scoop to make consistently sized balls)
5. Place sheet trays with scooped dough in the fridge and allow to chill for 15 minutes.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until dough has spread out and is slightly browned on top. Enjoy with a big glass of eggnog!

Check out my fellow swappers: