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The Chocolate Chip Cookie Ride first began in the spring of 1991. A report of the second cookie ride appeared in our biking club newsletter, the Coghauler. Since that first ride, it's been led every 2 months with very few exceptions. The ride is sponsored by the Carolina Tarwheels, a bike club in the Chapel Hill/Durham, NC area. If you live around here, come on the ride! (Helmets are required.)
Attendance at the ride is sometimes quite large. Even in cold rainy weather, it isn't surprising to have someone show up drooling for cookies. You can see a picture (109K) of riders sometime in the first 2 years the ride was held. (This wasn't on a cold, rainy day, though!) I'm about in the middle of the photo, next to the tall rider with the two-colored helmet, former co-leader. You can't tell very well from this photo, but I'm wearing a tiger helmet cover. (This was in the days when styrofoam helmets and lycra covers were standard.)
Lots of people ask for "the recipe" for the cookies. Since about 1994, I've just used the standard Toll House (I'm sure that's a registered trademark) chocolate chip cookie recipe. The night before the ride, I look arould my kitchen and see what I have lying around that looks like it might go well with chocolate chip cookies. Over the years, we've had blueberry chocolate chip, cranberry chocolate chip, strawberry chocolate chip, red raspberry chocolate chip, pine nut chocolate chip, raisin chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip, peanut butter chocolate chip, banana walnut (or pecan) chocolate chip, apricot chocolate chip, orange chocolate chip, coffee chocolate chip, cinnamon orange chocolate chip... hmmm... Oh, yes... and plain chocolate chip! :-) New flavors debut periodically. For example, on May 4, 1997, coffee and orange-mint were new flavors. And on March 21, 1998, cinnamon orange debuted. And everytime I think I'm out of new flavors to try, another one develops. On September 6, 1998, I added orange to a standard to make orange banana pecan chocolate chip. And, on the same ride, I experimented with Earl Grey chocolate chip--inspired by a box of chocolates a friend brought back from Belgium which included Earl Grey dark chocolate. I was surprised at the positive reception for the Earl Grey cookies! They were all eaten and several people commented on how much they liked them. And people continue to be *very* enthusiastic about the coffee! Nothing like a few caffeine addicts to set the pace--so to speak. Carrot is surprisingly popular.
Some of the above work better than others. Anything that adds liquid to the recipe means you have to work a little by adding extra flour. The blueberry cookies have a little too much liquid to do well. This was using regular blueberries, though. Dried ones would work well.
In fact, any dried fruit added to the dough works well. Apricots (cut up), cranberries, and raisins are just some examples of what you can add in the dried fruit arena. Personally, I don't care much for the apricot ones, but they are very popular with other folks. Mostly I just add the dried fruits as they are, but every once in a while (if I have time), I soak them in boiling water for a few minutes to get them juicy and plump.
My favorite cookies are the banana walnut chocolate chip ones. Take a ripe banana (the riper, the better), mash it up, add the mash to some of the cookie dough, chop some walnuts and add those, and that's it! You can add some more flour, but it may not be necessary. These will have a very different texture than those made with dried fruit. They're softer and more cake-like. Really yummy!
For those of you who like the flavor of pine nuts, that's another simple addition. Those are a favorite of one of our regular riders.
To make all of these flavors (or at least some of them :-)), mix the standard dough. Divide it into different bowls, one per flavor. Then add whatever you want to each bowl. "How much?" you might ask. Ummm, whatever seems right? I don't measure any of the additions. Just remember... the cookies have sugar, fat, and chocolate. There's not much you can do to them to make them inedible! Experiment.
The record attendance for a chocolate chip cookie ride is 41 people on May 9, 1998.
If you live in the Triangle area of North Carolina, come join us for a cookie ride!
Last modified 6 September 1998, evans@unc.edu
For information, send mail to evans@unc.edu