Clubhouse Eats: The chocolate chip cookies at Montage Palmetto Bluff are marvelous (and free!)

Welcome to Clubhouse Eats and Drinks, where we’ll introduce you to our favorite food and drink at some of the best golf courses, golf resorts and golfy locations around. Cheers!

I went to a golf resort to, well, play golf, obviously, but also to relax and go on a little vacation with my family. And here I am, a month removed, and the first thing I’m going to write about is… the cookies.

That’s right. And you’ll be happy I did, because the good folks at Montage Palmetto Bluff even supplied me with the recipe for their decadent chocolate chip cookies (my favorite) and even threw in the recipe for their red velvet cookies for good measure.

First, some quick background. Montage Palmetto Bluff is in Bluffton, S.C., not far from Hilton Head Island, and has rooms, suites, cottages, villas and more. There’s also an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course called May River, which also boasts a fantastic practice area. Located in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, Montage Palmetto Bluff is classic southern living at its finest. There are 20,000 acres loaded with biking trails and picturesque scenery with several restaurants, a marina, outdoor sports and more. The hub is the newly constructed Main Inn, which practices a term I hadn’t heard of until visiting: “porching.”

The resort started porching about 10 years ago as a way to honor its history and create a relaxed and pleasant gathering area for guests. It’s essentially time set aside in the mid-afternoon to take a break and enjoy some iced tea or lemonade amid the company of others. Palmetto Bluff then decided to add its own spin with cookies. And the best part? They are free.

Every day all year, from 3:30-4:30 p.m., Palmetto Bluff invites all of its guests for porching on the back side of The Inn, a quaint space that’s both casual and elegant. In the summer guests can enjoy free iced tea and lemonade, and during the winter those are subbed out for hot chocolate and cider. But the cookies stay year-round. Three cookie jars on the far end of the room are filled with the day’s three different offerings, which are selected based on the season or simply on a whim via the resort’s pastry team. The chocolate chip cookies, however, are a favorite of Executive Chef Nathan Beriau, and those are never swapped out. For that we are thankful.

The chocolate chip cookies don’t look out of the ordinary. They aren’t the size of softballs or overloaded with an egregious amount of chocolate chips, but they are perfect. They are the kind your grandma makes, only better. Like, way better. (Sorry, grandma.) Gooey and warm with the right amount of chocolate (and just a touch of bourbon) make these the perfect mid-day snack. Here’s how you can make them yourself. (Warning: These exact recipes will make a lot of cookies — like the resort needs to — but maybe that’s exactly what you want anyway.)

Montage Palmetto Bluff chocolate chip cookie recipe

INGREDIENTS

AP flour 2 lbs or 8.5 cups
Rye flour 1.5 cups
Salt 1 tsp
Baking soda .5 teaspoon
Butter (soft) 1.5 lbs
Brown sugar 4 cups
Eggs (room temperature) 4 large eggs
Vanilla extract 1.5 tablespoons
Chocolate chunks 2 lbs
Flaky salt (top of cookie) to taste
Vanilla bean (each) 1 each
Bourbon .5 oz or 1 tablespoon

DIRECTIONS

1. Cream butter and sugars together very well (add vanilla bean at this time if using).
2. Add eggs little by little (add bourbon at this time if using). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix well. Stir together dry ingredients (add flaky salt on top of the cookie not in the batter).
3. Add flour on first speed or stir speed if applicable.
4. Mix just until combined and flip the dough from bottom to top, ensure there is not butter smear on the bottom or butter chunks.
5. Add chocolate and combine. Scoop as desired.
6. Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes, rotating pan in oven halfway through.

Montage Palmetto Bluff red velvet cookie recipe

INGREDIENTS

Butter 20 oz or 2.5 cups
Brown sugar 20 oz. or 2.5 cups
Sugar 24 oz. or 3 cups
Eggs 10 medium eggs
Red food coloring 2 tablespoons
Vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
Cake flour 6 cups
Cocoa powder 1 teaspoon
Baking powder 3 teaspoons
Baking soda 3 teaspoons
Salt 3 teaspoons
White chocolate 3 1/4 cups
Chocolate chunks 26 oz. or 3 1/4 cups

DIRECTIONS

1. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars.
2. Add in eggs, food coloring and vanilla slowly, scraping down occasionally.
3. Sift together baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and cake flour. Add sifted ingredients to the butter, mix just before combined.
4. Add chocolate chunks and salt. Mix just unit combined. Don’t over mix.
5. Scoop onto parchment line sheet pans (yellow scoop).
6. Before baking press flat and sprinkle tops with assorted chocolate chunks. Bake at 325 degrees fan on low speed (#2) for approximately 10-15 minutes, turning halfway through.

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