Chocolate Chip Cookies

My first experiment was quite interesting. Everyone who had already eaten my chocolate chip cookies before actually prefered the "everyday" ingredients. The ingredients that are picked up at any grocery store. Nothing fancy. Nothing different.
However, people who hadn't tasted my cookies before prefered the "special" ingredients. They said that the cookies were more "robust" in flavor.
So now the question begs to be asked - did the first batch of votes just vote out of a memory of previous cookies? Did they just prefer them, because that's what they are used to?
I don't know...the more I think about it, the more I think I should have done the whole experiment with a cookie that didn't involve chocolate. I really think the chocolate masked some of the other flavors. The butter and vanilla mainly.
However....I did walk away with the knowledge my family isn't hard to please. The ranted and raved about cookie "b" (the everyday one) - I'm sure full well thinking it HAD to be the more expensive ingredients one.

The differences came in the form of butter: one was regular Costco butter, and the other was "European butter", vanilla: one was Schilling Vanilla Extract, and the other was Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla, chocolate shavings: one was Hershey, and the other Lindt, chocolate chips: one was Nestle Toll House, and the other was Guittard, oatmeal: one was Quaker Oats, the other Snoqualmie Falls, flour: one was Pillsbury All-Purpose Flour and the other King Arthur All-Purpose Flour and finally the sugar: one was regular granulated sugar and the other was vanilla bean infused bakers sugar.

My neighbors liked the texture of the everyday cookie because it was more crispy. They said someone who likes their cookie more chewy would have preferred the other. I actually think that came down to the different types of sugar used. I think the Bakers Sugar, with it's very small granuals, mixes more evenly and melts more thoroughly. We'll see with the other cookies it the days to come.

So - the winner - hands downs - "Everyday, nothing special ingredient, cookie" - Yipee!!!

Peace Out,
Natalie