I need a business-casual outfit that screams “I am reliable! Let’s make flashcards together! But also sometimes go to happy hour!”
…How does one pull that off without trying too hard?
Growing up, I was 100% not the cool kid in school. I was way outside of anything awesome or awful, safe in the largely unnoticed neutral zone. So picking out an outfit to wear on the first day of school required about.00094 seconds of thought.
The day before grad school orientation (which has a “business casual” dress code and opens with a photo session what is up with that???), I have tried on 9. What says “Please like me, people who have interests similar to mine” and won’t make me look fat in photographs? This was never a relevant question in grade school, but then I (almost) always had friends walking in.
I’m better at food than fashion: I think the answer to getting someone to like you is almost always cookies. Especially these cookies–the Tollhouse ones that have been on the bag forever, but thicker, with chunks of chocolate and toasted walnuts, and some sea salt on top if you’re feeling a little unconventional. These are classic, timeless, eat-them-with-milk-and-make-friends cookies.
Or something like that.
- 1 cup/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup white granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla paste (may substitute vanilla extract)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 10 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat baking sheets.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugars, and vanilla, stirring until smooth.
- Add eggs, mixing completely after each addition.
- Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into batter in 3 parts, stirring well after each addition.
- Fold in chopped chocolate and walnuts.
- Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour.
- Drop dough onto prepared baking sheet in rounded tablespoons, leaving 2 inches between cookies for spreading.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven, allow cookies to rest for 2 minutes before removing to cool.
THIS. That second photo. Ri-DONK-ulous. 0_0
My husband is from France and says he’s “done with cake from North America” but walnut, dark chocolate. He’ll stop all of that snootiness.
If I grew up on french pastry, I might also be suspicious about “cake from North America”! 🙂 It’s hard to go wrong with chocolate and nuts, though…
these cookies look amazing.. you can never go wrong with a good dark chocolate chip cookie, loving the added walnuts! need to try the recipe!
Thank you! I hope you like them!
1. These cookies look great…I’m sure my pregnant cousin will be very appreciative, so thanks!
2. I’m also going into a nursing program and know I will be facing that exact same problem of picking out the perfect outfit…good to know I’m not the only one!
1. I hope she likes them, and congrats to her on having a baby!
2. When I got there everyone else seemed just as eager to be friendly/almost as awkward about meeting new people, so it worked out well. 🙂 Good luck with your program!
Lovely recipe! Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad you liked it! Thanks for reading!