Who doesn’t love fresh, out of the oven, gooey, chocolate chip cookies? I don’t know about you, but I love a good cookie better than just about any dessert! (OK, who am I fooling? I love ANY dessert!) I have been working on creating the perfect chocolate chip cookie for quite some time…hence, the reason my pants are a little snug lately?. There are a couple of “secrets” in my cookie recipe that I’ll share. If you want a great cookie recipe, look no further. I even include step by step pictures (I feel a little like Pioneer Woman).

Steps to the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie!

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 350º. Then gather your ingredients. For this recipe, you are going to need the following: unsalted butter, shortening, eggs, vanilla, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, flour, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips.

Step 2:

Combine one stick of soft, unsalted butter and one stick of Crisco. That is secret #1. Many chocolate cookie recipes call for 2 sticks of butter, but I have found that using only butter will produce a flat cookie. Adding in the shortening gives the cookie a more airy taste. Blend together on a low setting for 2 minutes. Turn it up a notch or two and blend a little longer. You want the butter/shortening mixture to blend very well. Don’t rush this step. Trust me, it’s worth it!

           

Step 3:

Add brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla. Blend well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Step 4:

In a large bowl, add flour, baking soda and salt. Add gradually to mixing bowl. If you add too quick, you end up with flour all over your shirt! You will notice that as you continue to add the flour, the mixture gets very stiff. That’s how it is supposed to end up so don’t panic. At this point, you are probably going to want to taste the cookie dough. No one can trust a cook who doesn’t sample the goods, right?

      

Step 5:

Stir in the chocolate chips. You don’t want to use the mixer for this, but use a wooden spoon instead. By stirring the chocolate chips into the stiff dough, you will be able to count that as your workout for the day. Make sure you switch from hand to hand so that you are working out both sides of your body. Remember that this also gives you permission to sample a few more bites of cookie dough since the workout was so strenuous. If the kids or grandkids are in the kitchen, they get to lick the beater (make sure you turn off the mixer first!). If no one is there while you are baking, then you get to lick the beater….hence, another reason why my pants are a little snug ?!

                   

Step 6:

Time to make a choice. You could either wrap the bowl in Saran Wrap, put the bowl in the fridge, and just eat the cookie dough with a spoon over the next few days. You could also wrap the cookie dough in wax paper, put it in a Ziploc freezer bag and freeze it for later. Or you can bake them. Today, I am choosing to bake them, but I may have done the other two things in my previous baking days…hence, the third reason why my pants may be a little snug ?!

Spray your pan with Pam and drop by rounded tablespoons onto the cookie sheet. Now I’m going to reveal secret #2: bake for 9 minutes. You might have to adjust the time a little because al ovens are a little different. However, you want to pull them out of the oven when they still looked a little undercooked.

                

Step 7:

It’s time to sample your cookies! If there are any left after you have sampled them, you need to pack them in an airtight container. I always put a sheet of wax paper between layers of cookies so that they don’t stick. Also, just a reminder to keep the lid off the container until they are completely and totally cooled off.

       

So what do you think about my secret recipe? Do you think that will work for you? I think a good chocolate chip cookie makes anyone feel better, could possibly save a marriage, or at the least, could promote world peace! Let me know how your cookies turn out! ???

click HERE for a printable recipe

Be Blessed,