I recently decided to run a little experiment in my kitchen to see if ingredients actually matter as much as price tags suggest. I made two batches of chocolate chip cookies side-by-side: one using the cheapest pantry staples I could find (totaling about $5) and another using high-end luxury ingredients like A2 ghee and quail eggs (totaling nearly $50).
The process for both was nearly identical, but the results were surprisingly different. The budget batch, made with shortening, came out thicker and softer—more like a bakery cake-cookie. The expensive batch was richer and spread out more, with that intense chocolate hit you get from good bars. I admit, cracking tiny quail eggs for the expensive batch was fiddly and I dropped a shell in the batter, but the experiment was worth the hassle to see the difference in texture. Below, I’ve listed both versions so you can decide if you want to save or splurge.
Ingredients
The $5 “Budget” Batch
- 1 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 10 oz chocolate chips (standard store brand)
The $50 “Luxury” Batch
- 1 cup A2 ghee (clarified butter)
- 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
- 1/2 cup organic brown sugar
- 6 quail eggs (or substitute 2 large high-quality eggs)
- 2 teaspoons real vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 5 oz Valrhona dark chocolate, chopped
- 5 oz Valrhona milk chocolate, chopped
Instructions
- Prep the oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Cream the base: In a large mixing bowl, combine your fat of choice (shortening for the cheap version, ghee for the expensive one) with the granulated and brown sugars. Mix until smooth.
- Add wet ingredients: Add the eggs. If using quail eggs for the luxury version, you need about 6 of them to match the volume of 2 chicken eggs. Stir in the vanilla.
- Add dry ingredients: Mix in the salt and baking soda. Slowly add the flour, stirring until the dough just comes together. Don’t overmix.
- Add chocolate: Fold in the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate chunks.
- Scoop and bake: Use a large ice cream scoop to make balls of dough (approx. 3.2 oz each). Place them on the baking sheet. Bake for 16–20 minutes.
- Cool: The shortening cookies might look taller, while the ghee cookies will flatten out and look glossier. Let them set on the pan for 5 minutes before moving to a rack.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The Comparison: It is fun to taste the difference between shortening (fluffy, neutral flavor) and ghee (rich, nutty, buttery flavor).
- Yield Size: These make very large, coffee-shop style cookies, not the tiny bite-sized ones.
- Versatility: The base ratio of flour to sugar works regardless of whether you use cheap or expensive fats.
Chef’s Tips for Perfection
- Shortening vs. Butter: Shortening has a higher melting point, so the $5 cookies will hold their shape better. Ghee melts fast, so the $50 cookies will spread and get crispy edges.
- Quail Eggs: If you try the luxury version but can’t find quail eggs, just use regular organic eggs. The quail eggs add a slight richness but are mostly for the novelty.
- Chopped Chocolate: Even if you make the cheap version, chopping a chocolate bar instead of using chips will improve the texture significantly because it melts better.
Storage and Reheating
Store these in an airtight container at room temperature. The shortening cookies (Budget) stay soft for nearly a week because shortening doesn’t go stale as fast as butter. The ghee cookies (Luxury) are best eaten within 3 days. To refresh them, microwave for 10 seconds.
Nutritional Notes
Both versions are heavy on sugar and fats. The ghee version is slightly higher in saturated fat due to the concentrated butterfat, while the shortening version is processed fat. Each large cookie packs around 380-450 calories.
