Baked good gratitute

Whenever I am invited to a potluck or something similar, I have always been the person that makes something.  When I was working in an office, I was "that person" that would bake and bring it in to share.  It has always brought me joy.

Over time, it has become the norm to bring something store bought to gatherings.  This isn't just a new norm in Japan, but in the US and many other countries as well.  But it isn't my style.  I rarely pick up a treat from the store to share, but it has been known to happen depending on my schedule.

When I pull out my container of deliciousness, it is always fun to see people's reactions.  My favorite thing about bringing something homemade to an event in Japan is the universal reaction of absolute surprise and gratitude.  My husband told me it is considered good manners in Japan to have this reaction.  I don't care where it comes from.  When I've taken the time to bake, it is wonderful to feel it is appreciated.

Today I attended the kindergarten parent's choir's New Years party.  It was basically the moms (no dads in the group) having lunch together.  After people finished their bento lunches, I pulled out a container of my homemade hojicha chocolate chip cookies.  They were met with amazement that I had made them myself, as well as rave reviews.

It has taken a lot of testing to get the recipe just right.  It makes me laugh to see the page of notes that I kept for reviews after each batch while getting the right balance of bitter tea leaves with sweet chocolate.  Notes about increasing this and reducing that, trying this method or that one based on reading various methods, helped me to figure it all out.  It also took me a while to get used to baking cookies in my little oven.  Not all ovens cook the same way!  After I don't know how long, I finally realized that I couldn't put dough in the corners of my baking sheet, because those don't bake as quickly as the rest of the oven.  So, I'd have a 7 cookies fully baked and 4 that were still raw in the middles!  Surrendering myself to having to bake more trays, but everything being done at the same time took some acceptance on my part.

I will continue to make these cookies and share them as often as I can.  After all, who doesn't like a little praise once in a while?

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Hojicha Chocolate Chip Cookies*
makes 36 cookies

240 grams all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp hojicha (roasted green tea)
1 tsp baking soda
200 grams butter
88 grams white sugar
100 grams brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips (Nestle or Ghirardelli, bittersweet or dark)
1 cup walnuts (toasted to bring out flavor)

1. Put flour, salt, and hojicha into the food processor (a coffee grinder works best, and a mortar and pestle is also great).  Process until fine and you don't see any large bits of tea leaves.
2. Add baking soda to flour mixture, lightly mix.
3. In a separate bowl, cream butter until smooth.
4. Add white sugar and mix until smooth.  Then add brown sugar and mix.
5. Beat in vanilla, then one egg at a time until combined.
6. Combine wet and dry ingredients.
7. Mix in chocolate chips and walnuts.
8. Bake 1 tbsp. balls of dough at 190°C/375°F for 9-11 minutes until no longer glossy on the top.
9. Let cool on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

*Japanese butter comes in 200 gram packages, which is smaller than the American standard of 1 cup by almost 2 tablespoons (25 grams of butter is 1.8 tbsp).  If using American sized butter, increase the butter to 1 cup and increase flour to 270 grams or 2.25 cups.