White Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Cookies from The Food Charlatan

White Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Cookies - made dough January 18, 2024 from The Food Charlatan

1/2 cup + 1/3 cup salted butter, softened

1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

16 ounces premium white chocolate chips or chunks

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until no lumps remain, 1-2 minutes. Add shortening and mix to combine.
2. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar, mixing until light and fluffy with no lumps, 2-3 minutes.
3. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing to combine.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture in 2 additions, mixing on low speed until just combined after each addition. Do not overmix.
5. Fold in 12 ounces of white chocolate chunks/chips. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space chilled dough balls. Bake 10-12 minutes until edges are light golden brown and middles no longer look raw. Remove from oven and gently press reserved white chocolate chunks/chips over tops of warm cookies. Let rest on baking sheets for several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

The dough for this was rather soft after I mixed it but I thought that would be okay since it has shortening in it and shortening helps prevent some of the spread that comes from butter. Boy, was I wrong. These cookies spread distressingly thin. Had I known the shortening wouldn't save the spread, I would've added more flour until the dough wasn't so soft and sticky.

I even tried the swirling trick of swirling the cookies inside a large round cookie cutter but that didn't work either as the cookies spread so much I couldn't get them fully inside my largest cutter to even swirl well. I only managed it with a few cookies small enough to just barely fit inside the cutter. Bummer.

Fortunately, despite their appearance, they still tasted good. Because they spread thin and due to the shortening, these came out with more of a crisp texture than a soft-chewy one. The cinnamon paired well with the white chocolate and both flavors were subtle and complementary to each other. If I make these again, I may have to try adding more flour if the dough is still too soft and sticky.

The swirling trick only worked on a few cookies