*mhmmmm* Cooooookies! I am crazy about crunchy American cookies. The last time I tried to make American Cookies…. they failed!! See my post here. In the meantime I know why they have ended up like normal cookies, I forgot the most important ingredient for a real American Cookie: Brown sugar. Well, you can make your cookies with white sugar but after you use brown sugar you will definietily see the difference. Brown sugar is worth its weight in gold! On bakingsheet.blogspot.com I found a good description of brown sugar used for cookies:

Some home bakers will tell you that the secret to a good cookie is using brown sugar instead of white. I don’t think that this is actually any kind of secret at all, but I will agree that brown sugar can add a unique flavor to a cookie. Brown sugar is basically white sugar that has had some molasses added back to it. This gives it a deeper flavor, and consequently produces more flavorful cookies. Molasses also helps to keep the cookies moist, so a cookie made with brown sugar will be slightly chewier than one made with white sugar.

The main recipe is from usa-kulinarisch.de, but I changed the quantity of the ingredients. The whole page is in German so I translated it in English:

For approx. 32 Chocolate Chip Cookies you need…

300g flour
100g ground hazelnut
1/2 tea spoon backing powder
1/2 tea spoon natron
a pinch of salt

125g margarine, room temperature
100g brown sugar
100g white sugar
one package of vanilla sugar
1 egg

100g roughly chopped black chocolate
100g roughly chopped milk chocolate
(or alternatively you can use chocolate chips)

oven baking temperature: 175 C°
baking time: 10 – 12 minutes

1. Mix flour, ground hazelnut, backing powder, natron and a pinch of salt slightly together.
2. In another bowl: Mix margarine and sugar until the mixture becomes creamy. Add the egg and continue mixing.
3. Put the flour-mixture to the creamy texture, add 2/3 of your chopped chocolate and mix everything well.
4. Roll the cookie dough into a ball, sprinkle the rest of your chocolate on the dough and flatten with a knife > ensure there is sufficient space between the cookies!
5. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes until they become light brown and let them cool completely on a rack.

PS. American Cookies + a glass of milk = dream team! The recipe of my second American Cookie (as you can see on the photo) follows tomorrow.