Old Faithful ~ Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't know about you, but when I am in a pinch to take something for "snack" to an event or just need a little "comfort food", one of the first recipes I go to is the old faithful, Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe on the back of the Chipits or Tollhouse chocolate chip bag.

This recipe, for those who normally "cheat" with the Pillsbury Dough Boy, is super easy and quick.  Late yesterday afternoon before our church evening Ladies' group, I realized I had forgotten to touch base with the person on the list for bringing a snack.  Instead of running to the grocery store on my way to the Bible Study, I just whipped up a batch of these cookies and voila...

Afterwards, one of the ladies asked me how I get my cookies so crispy yet gooey inside and honestly, I think it is in how I mix them.  What I find works best for me is using my hand mixer and not my larger mix-master.  I don't know why the difference, but there definitely is one in the consistency of the cookies.  

My other "trick" is knowing my oven and then under-baking the cookies, watching for the light golden brown color to start to show.  I often get rave reviews on my chocolate chip cookies and without sounding too proud, I like mine pretty much the best of any I've tasted.  

For those who don't know the recipe I'm talking about, let me give it to you and walk you through how I make these cookies:

Original Chipits Cookies

1.  First I cream 1 cup of Crisco shortening with my hand mixer in a large mixing bowl.

2.  I then add 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar.  Blend.  Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar.  Blend.

3.  Next I grab my 2 eggs and blend those, and 2 tsp vanilla and blend again.  The key is blending well after each ingredient is added... not just plopping them all in and blending at once.

4.  Next, I take 1 cup of flour, 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp salt and gradually blend them into the bowl, still using the hand mixer.

5.  Laying the mixer aside, I hand stir 1 cup of flour into the bowl, making sure to get all the flour from the edges of the bowl and stir it well.

6.  Lastly I add 300g or 1-1/3 cups of chocolate chips (and you can add 1 cup chopped nuts if sometimes you feel like a nut ... or two) and stir them into the mixture well.

7.  Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets, small spoonfuls of cookie dough and bake at 375F for... the recipe calls for 10-12 minutes but my oven runs hot so I usually only put 5 minutes on my timer so gauge the time according to how your oven normally runs.  Depending on the size of your cookies this recipe can make up to 6 dozen cookies... but I never usually get that many.

8.  Cool cookies on wired rack and then enjoy while still warm with a cup of tea or a glass of nice cold milk!

Remember  you'll want to watch the cookies carefully for the golden brown color to begin around the edges and tops and then grab them out quickly.  Last night my first two batches were perfect but the last two pans burned on the bottoms a little.  Not sure if it was my darker pans or my not watching them closely.

Enjoy this old standard and don't forget to share them with someone!!