Aunt Martha's Cookies — Revisited

To anyone not living under my Aunt Martha's roof (excluding her own children, of course) these have always been called Aunt Martha's Cookies. To Martha, and anyone that does happen to live under her roof (not to mention her own children), they are called Sarah's Cookies.

When we were younger these cookies were dreamt about, drooled over, pined for, fought over, and really thought to be a reminder that life is, in fact, good. When we would visit our cousins at their old farmhouse near St. Louis, Aunt Martha would give us a big shoebox full of these cookies for the long car ride home. And to be perfectly honest — they were gone all too soon.

Over the years I (along with the rest of our very large family and anyone else who requested the recipe) tried to recreate them to no avail. They were always alright — but just not the same. I have subsequently tried many other recipes but always come back to this one. I think it is a matter of pride — as a true Edgren — to perfect this cookie! And alas, 20 years later, I think I may have done it. Maybe.

The key seems to lie in beating the hell out of the butter. Add the brown sugar (always dark), continuing to beat hell out of it, then the granulated sugar — beating hell all the while. The process should take several minutes. That being said, when it comes time to add the flour just give it a quick spin in the mixer (using the paddle attachment, by the way). In fact, I usually keep the batter a little on the white side when I add the chocolate chips so as not to over mix.

At this point Aunt Martha puts them in the oven. As for me, I cover the dough and put it in the fridge for 48 hours — a tip I recently learned from the lovely Clotilde. I cannot even explain what it does exactly other than make the cookies darker and more rustic looking. I suspect it has something to do with the brown sugar and the whole concept of the flavors "marrying". But really, I ain't no chemist.

Pull the dough out of the fridge at least an hour before you bake them, use your ice cream scoop to get the right size, and just before they go into the oven put a little sea-salt (I've also been known to use kosher to the same effect) on top of each. This is what makes the cookie truly divine — that little taste of salt with sweet. Not to worry though, this is the final deviation from Aunt Martha's cookie...

Once they have cooled enough you can happily put them in a shoebox and drive cross-country. Or you can give one to your daughter (with an enormous bib, or simply stripped to her diaper) once she wakes up from her nap. As for me, I prefer them cold after they've been out of the oven for a few hours, but I realize this is terribly un-American of me. My sister, on the other hand, takes 2 cookies and puts a big scoop of vanilla ice cream in between them — which may explain why she always seems to have so many people over at her house.

1 lb soft butter

1 lb dark brown sugar

2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp salt

2 tsp soda

4 tsp vanilla

6 cups flour

24 oz chocolate chips

sea-salt for the tops

350° for 10-12 minutes

(I typically cut the recipe in half.)