Through My Lens: End of the Search Chocolate Chip Cookies

This post is part of “Through My Lens: An Experiment in Interpretation,” hosted by Kristen of Culinary Snapshot and Dine & Dish.

I’ve been reading Culinary Snapshot since it started a few weeks ago, and I have really enjoyed learning more about food photography through the various posts. I think it has been helpful to me to see different photos and have the specific camera settings for each actually listed out. I think the best part, though, is seeing that other food bloggers CAN take beautiful pictures with a point and shoot camera. It has inspired me to think about my pictures and explore my camera settings to get the best possible photograph, even though I have a compact camera and a very dark apartment.

At first I was apprehensive about submitting a photograph for the Through My Lens project, but now I am actually getting a little more confident with my food photography. I have also started experimenting with Photoshop Elements, which my parents graciously purchased for me for Christmas last year.

Here are the details of my picture:

Equipment: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W150 (point and shoot)

Technical Details:
Setting: Program Auto with Adjustable Settings
ISO Speed: 100
Flash: No flash
White Balance: Incandescent
Color Mode: Vivid

Photo Editing: Photoshop Elements
I created a duplicate layer, set it to Soft Light and adjusted the opacity. Then I flattened the image, removed the yellow color cast, slightly adjusted the levels and increased the saturation to +5 for a slight boost in color.

Setup Details: I took this picture in my kitchen on the stove, covering the controls and stovetop with white foam board.

Props: Black placemat, small square plate.

With all of that said, the recipe for this Through My Lens was End of the Search Chocolate Chip Cookies. This recipe is excellent – the cookies are perfectly chewy and buttery. I also took Kristen’s suggestion to try swirled chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet for something different. In my opinion, they didn’t taste that much different than semi-sweet, but they are definitely creamier and pretty, too! Both Scott and I enjoyed two cookies tonight with a tall glass of milk.

Fortunately, I have some family visiting tomorrow as the full recipe made a huge batch – I baked three full cookie sheets AND froze one dozen cookie dough balls for later baking. I see the treat bags coming out tomorrow!

End of the Search Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups butter
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 bag chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Mix butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs in large bowl.

3. Stir in the flour, baking soda and salt.

4. Stir in one half of the chocolate chips.

5. Drop dough by rounded measuring tablespoons, about 2-inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.

6. Place several of the reserved chocolate chips on top of each cookie (This step is not necessary…you can mix them all in, but the presentation of the cookie is better with this step in place).

7. Bake 9-12 minutes or until light brown.

8. Cool slightly.

9. Remove from cookie sheet, cool on wire rack.