Giving out cookies has resulted in a lot of people requesting my cookie recipe. And guess what? I'm posting it here:
The recipient of the latest batch of cookies that we made was for a custodian at our gym. She is SUCH a nice lady and my kids love her. She seemed a little down when I talked to her last, so the kids and I devised a plan to make her some cards and cookies and deliver them to her to bring a little cheer. Thomas almost foiled our plans for a random act of kindness when he picked the plate of cookies up and tipped all the cookies out in the bottom storage compartment of our stroller, but a sub-10 second cookie pick up got all the cookies back on the plate, practically germ-free (it's okay....she totally saw all the cookie spillage happen and laughed as we frantically scooped them back up. Then she ate one and thought it was delicious, so no harm done - haha!).
And all this talk of cookies reminds me that I need to post the recipe. Without further ado:
Chocolate Chip Cookies (courtesy of Mrs. Fields)
1 lb. butter (do NOT use margarine), softened to room temperature (NOT completely melted!)
2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
6 c. flour
2-3 c. chocolate chips (I use one bag - I think it's something like 12 oz. - and that is PLENTY)
Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and beat. Mix in the dry ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.* Let cool on the cookie sheet. Makes a lot of cookies (like, close to 5 dozen or so), so feel free to freeze the dough or bake all the cookies at once and freeze the ones that survive after the first day. They taste just as tasty and fresh when you pull them out of the freezer. The hardest part is waiting for them to thaw out so you can eat them :).
That's the basic recipe....here are some tips I've learned:
* I like my cookies done a little on the "raw side" - if they are undercooked, they will continue to cook as they sit on the cookie sheet. And when they are completely cool, they will be soft and chewy. They are extremely messy to eat warm when you undercook them, so keep that in mind. The undercooking method is best for cookies that will be eaten when they are completely cool and a few hours old. Each oven is a bit different, so you might have to tweak your cooking time. The cookies shouldn't have any brown on them (maybe a *slight* browning on the bottom) BUT - they shouldn't be shiny in the middle, either (that's a little too undercooked). Like I said, it might take a bit of experimenting. After making them a few times, you'll figure out what they should look like.
A few other notes....after I mix the dough, I roll all of it into balls and stick them all on one cookie sheet in the freezer to set. After about ten minutes or so, they are hard enough that you can "pop" them off the cookie sheet. You can go ahead and cook them all at this point, or just some of them and freeze the rest, or stick them all in a freezer bag to cook later. If you do pull them out of the freezer to cook, let them sit out for about 20 minutes or so. The dough should be cold and firm when you put them in the oven, but not rock solid like you just pulled them out of the freezer. The cool dough helps the cookies keep a thicker shape when you cook them.
Also - you might find that your cookies are a bit flat. I've gone back and forth on whether or not the egg size makes a difference. I used to just use the XL eggs that I get at costco, but it seemed like they make the dough too soft and "wet". So I buy large eggs just for cookies - ha! And I add just a bit extra flour to make the dough a little less wet and a little more firm - but you don't want it TOO dry and crumbly. Like I said, it will take some experimenting, but once you've got it down to an art, you can tell what the dough should look like just by eyeballing it, using the 6 c. of flour as a general guideline.
Whew! I think that's the basic recipe, plus all the tips I've learned from years and years of making them.
Don't worry if all the extra tips overwhelm you. Even if you follow the basic recipe and don't do all the little tricks that I do, you will have some very tasty cookies.
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