Thursday, December 15, 2011

Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Our younger daughter is coming home from college for Christmas tomorrow and last night I was feeling particularly guilty that I don't have anything yummy waiting for her so while I was cooking supper, I whipped up a batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies.

I'm REALLY picky about chocolate chip cookies. I love the butter flavor by using real butter BUT I prefer thick and chewy cookies and not thin crispy ones. I haven't figured out how to get thick/chewy with the real thing. I don't usually buy Crisco but for chocolate chip cookies, I just haven't found another recipe I like as well. This recipe came from the little cardboard labels in the butter flavor Crisco sticks AND they don't print this recipe anymore in the packags.

I love to smash tiny M&M's on top of these cookies for a "special" look but last night I just used Aldi chocolate chips, which was actually perfect because they are a cross between minis and regulars and I loved that about them.

OK, confession: Last night I only had a portion of the shortening I needed for these cookies so I added in some real butter to fill up the gap. The first batch was FLAT, THIN, and ALL WRONG (but I still ate some LOL)! So, in the rest of the batter (yes, all mixed with the chocolate chips and everything, I dumped about 1/8 cup of flour and stirred really well). The result wasn't as perfect as this recipe usually is, but it helped the thin/flat factor and still left me with a chewy (not cakey) cookie. Good enough! I used dark brown sugar in my cookies last night because that's what I had and they turned out a deep rich color.

I think my daughter will be thrilled to see them when she walks in the door (if there's any left) ;)

Here's how I make my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies AT HOME MYWAY:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup Butter Flavor Crisco (plain works fine too) (= to 3/4 stick if using the Crisco sticks)
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup AP flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional) (if nuts are omitted, add 1/2 cup additional chocolate chips)

1. Heat oven to 375.
2. Combine Crisco, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat until well combined. Beat egg in.
3. Add salt, baking soda. Stir well. Add flour. Stir well.
4. Drop by rounded scoops onto sprayed cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 375 degrees (fully preheated) 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes and remove to cooling racks to cool completely.

1 comment:

  1. I've heard that Crisco helps the cookies stay fresh/moist longer but have never made them this way myself. My cookies come out fine with butter (usually) unless there's not enough flour. I hate thin and crispy cookies too!

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