28 February 2011

Sally Jackson's Blue Chocolate Chip Cookies


"I recoiled at the taste, because I was expecting apple juice. It wasn't that at all. It was chocolate-chip cookies. Liquid cookies. And not just any cookies—my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting."

Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

My son and I read this book last year.  Sometimes, when an author starts out this exciting the follow up books are a bit of a let down.  The characters aren't so new anymore and the plot seems to lag as the author tries to outdo the previous book's excitement and laughs.  In other words, the work of writing a story starts to show  and it's hard to get caught up in the world you were so enraptured by in the first book.

Not so with this series.  We sped through Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters so fast that we were back at the library to pick up books three through five less than forty-eight hours later.

Even my hubby, who tends to read from the more serious end of the SciFi spectrum thought the book was fun and read the first three with us.

Now, back to the cookies pictured above and their violent blue hue.  Blue foods are a neat little part of this series.  Percy, the hero of the story, adores his hardworking single mother Sally Jackson and these blue chocolate chip cookies are something that she makes only for him and as far as I'm concerned, they are the best cookies I've eaten in a long time.

Sadly, with all the tasty foods mentioned in the books, Mr. Riordan never lists recipes.  So I made my own.  My first attempt was with just a regular chocolate chip cookie recipe.  You know the one, it's on the back of the bag of Nestle chips.  Well, those cookies tasted okay, but looked like mounds of Cookie Monster puke.

I think it was the egg and brown sugar mixing with the blue food coloring that made them so revolting.

So, anyway, these cookies are actually a shortbread and they turned out pretty much the way I imagined them from the book.

Blue Chocolate Chip Cookies (with dried cranberries, because I really like dried cranberries in everything)

2 sticks butter
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
blue food coloring (I used a fair bit, totally optional folks)
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Beat butter and powdered sugar with a hand mixer until creamy and smooth.  Add vanilla, flour, baking powder, blue food coloring and salt. Hand mix the  chips and cranberries.

I used my hands.

Looks a little gross, huh?

Anyway, once everythings mixed up, cram it into a ziploc bag.  Press all the air out and then use a rolling pin to roll it flat.

So it looks like this.


Then stick it in the fridge for a few hours.  Or, if you're in a super duper hurry, put it in the freezer for 30 minutes (that's what I did, cuz I'm always in a hurry).

Preheat your oven to 350. 

Cut the plastic off your cookie dough and cut it into whatever shapes you like.

Like this.

Or use a pizza roller to zip through the chilly dough (sorry, I forgot to get a picture of that).

Then put each cookie on a parchment lined sheet and bake them for 10-12 minutes.

Nom, nom.

37 comments:

  1. Wow, I LOVE blue, and I need chocolate chip cookies. Perfect recipe!

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  2. Thanks, I hope you make this and send me a picture!

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  3. How many cups is for the butter?

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  4. How much blue food colouring did you use? I've had lots of blue cookie troubles, but yours look great.

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  5. It didn't take much coloring, I used the gel coloring, about 1 tsp and stopped mixing it in when the cookies looked blue enough to me.

    Good luck, I hope your cookies turn out great!

    Jennifer

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  6. I love this book series, and so does my daughter! For her most recent birthday, it was Camp Half-Blood themed, and I just saw this article now, and thought how much she would have loved these if I had made them! Oh well, there's always next year!

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  7. Planning on making these for my friends Christmas gift! I know at least one of the two will appreciate it! I will definitely try this, they look amazing.

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  8. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG I love the Percy Jackson series so much!!! I have been wanting to make them for AGES!!! Oh my Gods, i can't believe i actually found a recipe!! Well i better go get mum to drive me to the shop to get ingredients!! ;) Bye!!

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    1. I really hope you make them, they somehow tasted even better while rereading the first book.

      Happy Baking!

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  9. omg!!!!having a percy jackson day for my second day of summer (so i can perfect it by August 18) and this is perfict and i have everything i need!!!!!! yay

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    1. Sounds perfect, Booknerd. Don't forget Tyson's enchiladas! I think they'd be a tasty accompaniment.

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  10. how many cookies does this recipe make ?

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  11. Replies
    1. Thank you :) Im going to make these as a bridal shower favor for a blue themed wedding. So ill need LOTS !

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  12. and is it salted or unsalted butter ?

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  13. I used salted. I think these would be lovely at a bridal shower! Hope you post pics of them.

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  14. I love Percy Jackson and want to have an August 18th party with my friends. I am going to try to make the blue cocolate chip cookies. And by the way it is GROVER'S enchilladas! :)

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  15. Oops, you're right it is Grover's enchiladas!

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  16. Do you have to use confectioner's sugar? Can I use the regular kind? Or brown sugar? And where did you get the blue food dye? I love the pjo series, thank you so much for posting this

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  17. 'thank you so much for posting this'

    Glad you like this doctorgiraffe.

    I wouldn't try it with regular or brown sugar (I think the color would mix unhappily with the blue dye), the weight of the dough, the consistency of the cookies would be changed pretty drastically.

    I bought blue food dye in the baking aisle at my local grocery store, it was in a box with red, yellow and green dye for about $4.

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  18. Did you use a specific type of blue gel? Because I tried and it didn't turn very blue.

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  19. I used McCormick brand, the only kind they sell at my smallish neighborhood grocery, I'm pretty sure I had to use about 2 teaspoons of dye before it looked as blue as I wanted it. the dough is so dry and crumbly before chilling, that an extra couple of tsps of liquid won't affect the taste.

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  20. Thanks! I will try that kind of gel.

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  21. Would it affect the cookie if I didn't put as much butter? I put the amount of butter that you said, and it was really good but a little too rich for me. Thanks :)

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  22. I would be hesitant to use less butter, butter makes the texture lighter and crisper and with less, hmmm, just not sure what would happen, but if you feel like experimenting, go ahead and try it with less.

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  23. Wow! I've been looking for a Percy Jackson blue cookie recipe for so long, and I've finally found one! Thank you soooo much! I'm a Percy Jackson maniac, and I can't wait to settle down and read House of Hades and have a cookie while reading the book. Thanks again, Yours in demigodliness,
    Kaitie

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  24. I still haven't read House of Hades, but cookies and a Rick Riordan fest sounds great to me too!

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  25. what shade of blue food colouring gel did you use?

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  26. Cameron - this is the color I used; http://www.amazon.com/MCCORMICK-FOOD-AND-COLORING-Colors/dp/B004G7PLJI/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1407185373&sr=8-6&keywords=food+coloring

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  27. Thank you for this I've been buggin my mom to help me make blue cookies everytime she looks @ me weird now I can make um and kno they'll b good

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  28. Do you know how to make them without using a pizza roller/cookie shaper? And without a rolling pin? Because I don't have either of those....

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  29. You can hand roll the dough into rounds, by the small handful, then press it out flat. They won't be as uniform in shape, but they should taste the same. Be sure to chill the dough circles before baking, all the handling will melt the butter and affect the final product

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  30. Hi, I was wondering if the cookie would be messed up if I took out the cranberries :)

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  31. Thank you for making this! I have just started y own baking blog and somebody requested that I do these cookies! I had no idea this blog existed, and I will credit you on my blog. See Claire Bear's Bakery

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