Friends Season 7 Episode 3 – the one with Phoebe’s cookies
Monica: “Man, I have not made this many cookies since I was in the ninth grade.”
Phoebe: “Oh, what was that for? Like a bake sale?”
Monica: “No, just a Friday night.”
In September of 1994 (starting to feel old just typing that date) NBC debuted a new comedy series following the lives of six FRIENDS living in Manhattan. Little did the network know that the show would dominate the Thursday night line-up for 10 years.
20 somethings everywhere tuned in each week to watch the relationship drama and hilarity that was so relatable. We got to see them date, break up, get married, have babies, turn 30 (OMG feeling really old now). We (and when I say we, I mean me) obsessed over Rachel’s hair styles and started using words like “manny” (male nanny, thank you Chandler). We watched them drink excessive amounts of coffee, and thanks to Monica’s obsessive need to play hostess, and her career as a chef, we also watched them eat. A lot.
One of my all-time favorite episodes is the One with Phoebe’s Cookies. Monica is desperately trying to recreate THE chocolate chip cookie recipe passed down by Phoebe’s Grandmother, from her distant French relative, Nesle Toulouse. I can totally relate to Monica’s obsession here. It probably took over 22 batches to come up with my recipe. The difference is, I’ve been tweaking it over the course of 15 years and Monica tried to do it in two days.
Mine get made with whole wheat flour, white flour and a hint of cinnamon. They’re dropped by the ¼ cup full, so they bake up big, and thick. Ross mentions that “Batch number 17 was good”, so we will refer to these as batch #17.
Batch #17 Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 22 cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 cup firmly packed Brown Sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened (I take it out of the fridge about an hour before I’m ready to use it. If your butter is too warm your cookies will spread and end up very flat.)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups All purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 2 cups chocolate chips (or chocolate chunks)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375
- Beat sugars and butter, on low until fully incorporated. (A hand mixer works great but this can also be achieved with a wooden spoon)
- Beat in eggs and vanilla.
- Beat in flours, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. The dough will be thick.
- Using a wooden spoon stir in chocolate chips.
- Firmly pack a ¼ with cookie dough and drop onto ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. (I also shape my dough so they keep a nice round shape when baking)
- Bake for about 12 minutes, or until edges just start to turn golden. Its ok if the top doesn’t look quite set. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool completely on baking sheet. The heat from the cookie sheet will cook them completely without burning the tops and drying them out.
- Store in an airtight container for about 3 days, if they last that long.
Cookie dough, once shaped, can also be frozen for up to a month. Separate layers of dough with parchment paper to prevent sticking. You can make one, or all of them depending on the size of your craving. Follow the same baking instructions, just increase the baking time to 14 minutes.
Here’s a handy card for your printing pleasure!
- 1 cup firmly packed Brown Sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened (I take it out of the fridge about an hour before I’m ready to use it. If your butter is too warm your cookies will spread and end up very flat.)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups All purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 2 cups chocolate chips (or chocolate chunks)
- Preheat oven to 375
- Beat sugars and butter, on low until fully incorporated. (A hand mixer works great but this can also be achieved with a wooden spoon)
- Beat in eggs and vanilla.
- Beat in flours, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. The dough will be thick.
- Using a wooden spoon stir in chocolate chips.
- Firmly pack a ¼ with cookie dough and drop onto ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. (I also shape my dough so they keep a nice round shape when baking)
- Bake for about 12 minutes, or until edges just start to turn golden. Its ok if the top doesn’t look quite set. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool completely on baking sheet. The heat from the cookie sheet will cook them completely without burning the tops and drying them out.
- Store in an airtight container for about 3 days, if they last that long.
- Cookie dough, once shaped, can also be frozen for up to a month. Separate layers of dough with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- You can make one, or all of them depending on the size of your craving.
- Follow the same baking instructions, just increase the baking time to 14 minutes.
