Jul
16
2008
Screw the Cookies and Milk! 
A few nights ago, Ray and I finally cracked the bottle of Young’s Double Chocolate Stout that I had purchased in late May/early June. Originally, I was going to be a greedy brat and keep it to myself, but I came to my senses and decided Ray and I should share, as well as pair my chocolate chip cookies with it.
When Ray finds me baking in the kitchen, you can see his eyes glaze over and he begins to salivate. True, I am definitely a good baker, schooled by my Gramma Ward, and encouraged by the rest of my family, but sometimes I think his objectivity flies out the window when it comes to my sweet treats fresh from the oven.
Nevertheless, we shared a couple cookies and the bottle of Youngs, and it was excellent. I feel that the bottled brew was just as good as the draft I had at Stouts NYC; the head was nice and creamy, the mouthfeel had a luscious thickness to it — without leaving an unpleasant coating — and the overall taste was full of chocolate and roastyness. This beer paired perfectly with my cookies, which are not too sweet — I only use semi-sweet chocolate chips — and are also not super chewy/soft. They’re also not drier than stale toast; instead they sit on the middle ground, and because of that, the moisture from the stout compliments them well.
Excellent beer, excellent cookies, excellent pairing.
And while we’re on the topic of cookies and beer, Ray and I tried our ESB with my orange chocolate chip cookies as well, and found that the citrus in both the beer and the cookie was brought forth by the pairing. A nice surprise indeed!
Sounds tasty! I wonder if there are any recipes for making cookies with beer in them?
There definitely are recipes that use beer, but I can’t think of any at the moment (gah…mornings). I remember watching a cooking challenge on the Food Network where this guy used a beer in his white chocolate cookies, so I have seen it done before.
I myself make a pretty tasty stout spice cake with quadruple spice cream cheese frosting. I’ve used Victory’s Storm King Imperial Stout for it, though I’d like to branch out with different ones.
Also, Ray and I were thinking of using some of the extra liquid malt extract we’re going to have laying around and using that in a cookie…check back in a month or so to see the results!