Ogre's Cookie Recipe

OGRE'S COOKIE RECIPE
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	This recipe makes a nice soft brown chocolate chip cookie with a subtle malt flavor. It's like a cross between three musketeers and ginger bread without the ginger part. The consistency of the cookie is like a much softer ginger bread and not like a typical chocolate chip cookie.

1. 2 + 5/8 cups flour
2. 1 + 1/2 tsp baking soda

	Mix those two ingredients in a large bowl. Just make sure the baking soda is fully incorporated into the flour. If you have a sifter, use that. If not, I just use a metal spatula with slits.

3. 1 + 1/2 packed cups of dark brown sugar
4. Two sticks of softened butter or just cut it into small bits (not melted - just leave it out for an hour or so before)

	Plop the sugar wad from the measuring cup into a mixing bowl. Cut up the soft butter into chunks and drop in the same bowl. Put the bowl into a mix master and start mixing on low. Make sure it's locked or hold it down. Scrape down the sides of the bowl whenever necessary.

5. Add two eggs to the mixing bowl and continue mixing.
6. Add 2 tsp vanilla extract
7. Add 2 + 1/2 tbsp malt powder (like the kind for making milkshakes)
(Here you can add a pinch (not much) of cinnamon - your choice)

	Beat until all these ingredients are well combined. Keep increasing the speed as it gets smoother. You want it to look like a smooth paste with the color and smell of nougat. At this point you can pre-heat the oven (my oven temp is completely inaccurate, so use your own judgement for the temp - probably 350F is good).

	Now turn off the mixer and very slowly add a little of the flour/baking soda mixture. Turn on the mixer in slow pulses as you add it so it doesn't spray around. A little dust will probably get out anyway.

	After you've slowly added all the flour, turn the mixer up to a higher level once the material is not binding much anymore. Scrape down the edges one more time and mix for a final couple minutes.

8. Measure out 1 + 5/8 cups of chocolate chips (You can do up to 2 + 1/2 if you like chocolate, but it may overwhelm the malt flavor.)

	Open/remove the mixer utensil and manually stir in the chips with a thick metal spoon. You can use a spatula and spoon to clean each other off. Once it's fully mixed in, you're good to go.

	Put golf ball sized wads on a tray. I usually do 6-8 of them. You'll get about 27 cookies in total, it will be pretty sticky and soft, but it still works. I recommend doing subsequent batches after refrigerating. (You could do that with the first batch instead, if you're patient.)

	Put them in the oven for about 7-9 minutes. You should probably keep an eye on them cause ovens vary. You want the color to be just slightly darker than a normal chocolate chip cookie. If you think it's close, but not quite done, take it out anyway. You DON'T want them to get brown and hard. It's meant to be a soft cookie.

	PS: Like I said earlier - my oven is inaccurate. However, I recommend pre-heating the oven to a higher temperature than you would normally use for cookies, and then just a minute after putting the cookies in, turn off the oven completely. This results in the most even cook without the bottoms getting too brown/black. In my specific case, I set it to 400 and then turn it off, but that's probably too high for most ovens.

	ALTERNATIVES: You can use no chips and add a lot more cinnamon for a different good cookie. If you go without the chips, you could combine some cream and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl and spread that on top. It's too much with the chips though. You could also substitute the second stick of butter for an equal amount of solid coconut oil. I've tried all of these and in some ways, I like it without the chips better. You can fully taste the malt and cinnamon then.