Andrew Rea’s Master Cookie Dough

This week’s guest brought the magic of his mama’s kitchen to milions — one cinematic dish at a time. @bingingwithbabish (aka Andrew Rea) joins us to talk about the meals that made him, the loss that shaped him, and how cooking became his way back to connection. A tender, funny, and inspiring conversation you don’t want to miss.

“My story with cookies is a long one, stretching back to my very earliest memories, so classic that they practically feel invented. In spite of doing little more than spilling my mother's carefully measured ingredients and forgetting to set a timer, I'm pretty sure that the exact words "Look everyone, Andy made cookies!", "All by myself!", and "Wow, they're perfect, we got a baker on our hands!" were said aloud, and on more than one occasion during my preschool career. All that is to say, my perfect-cookie-streak came to a screeching halt when she succumbed to her third bout with breast cancer. In the years after, I kept making the recipe off the back of the bag, albeit to a far more inaccurate and imprecise extent. Some blew up like softballs, others melted into pools, but every once in a while, they'd come out a little like they used to. When they did, I couldn't help but feel the warmth still radiating from my mother's oven, hearing its metal crackle and creak and yawn, even long after its flame was extinguished. After years of practicing on my own, I don't screw up cookies as often as | used to, and usually when I do, it's because I still forget to set a timer. Mine are bigger, more complex, and labor intensive-nothing like the ones in my fading memory-but I still smile sometimes when the blast of heat from my own creaky oven yields a perfect batch. I never could get them to come out right without my mother's help. To this day, I still can't.”

Listen, and as always, let us know whatcha think!

Ingredients

Serves: 6-8

Classic Cookie Dough Ingredients:

8 oz browned butter, cold

9 ¾ oz brown sugar

4 ½ oz granulated white sugar

2 eggs, cold

11 ½ oz all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp kosher salt

½ tsp baking soda

STEP 1

Classic Cookie Dough Method:

Combine the browned butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer. Begin creaming the butter and sugar, using a paddle attachment, at medium-high speed. Continue mixing until the butter becomes soft, aerated, and fully combined with the sugars, about 5-6 minutes.

STEP 2

Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure the mixture is homogeneous.

STEP 3

Start adding the eggs, one at a time, and mixing thoroughly in between additions. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between additions as well. This will ensure the entire mixture is well combined.

STEP 4

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda. Whisk to evenly distribute the ingredients.

STEP 5

Add the dry ingredients all at once to the mixing bowl, then mix at low speed until the batter is just combined. Overmixing the dough at this stage can result in unwanted gluten development.

STEP 6

Combine the dough with the inclusions/toppings of your choice. Once again, avoid overmixing the dough.

STEP 7

Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour to up to 3 days.

STEP 8

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the dough into mounds. Place them evenly on a large, rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

STEP 9

Bake the cookies at 375°F for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.Allow the cookies to cool on the sheet pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Michele’s Kitchen Notes

This dough is amazing. Something everyone should master before the holidays. Check out his website for more variations of this recipe.