Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love COOKIES! NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM - Cookie Monster

So really who doesn't love cookies.  Chocolate chip to be exact.  If you don't please do not leave a comment explaining why at the end of this blog.   I am really not intreseted in hearing why and you probably aren't human anyways!

So cookies... Warm, sweet, chewy cookie with chunks of melted semi-sweet morsels surprising your every bite.  I love them what can I say.  My husband loves them too.  Cookies are like pizza to me..... It's a cookie, there is no such thing as a bad cookie.  In that I mean I like crunchy, gooey, chewy, buttery, or even raw cookies.  I love them all!!

I was sitting in my living room after dinner and I was thinking it sure had been a long time since my last post.  Granted I have had a very busy week and because of that in about two weeks you will be seeing a blog posted on a more regular basis!

Back to my story though, so I was sitting there after dinner...  My wonderful, hard working Husband had been out on his second job on his second day back to work and I wanted to do something for him.  He treats anything I cook/bake like its the best thing in the world.  So not only does he get rewarded with fresh baked goodies when i am missing him, but he makes me feel like I am the most amazing baker/cook in the world.  So it is very rewarding for me too.  Yes I have to flaunt how amazing he is.  They just don't make'em like that anymore.  By the way if it weren't for that wonderful man I probably wouldn't be cooking today!  He is my inspiration for all my recipes <3

On to my chewy (gooey if you eat it right out of the oven) chocolate chip cookie recipe. 

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mix:
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup shortening

Beat on high speed until light and fluffy!!!

"It's so fluffy!" - Anges (Despicable Me)

Once light and fluffy add 1 tsp vanilla and 2 whole eggs and beat again!

You can now add your pre mixed flour mixture of

2 1/2 cup/275 g of Whole Wheat Flour ( It will give it a more tender crust)  Feel free to us regular AP flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

to your wet ingredient. 

Mix just until the flour begins to get wet then add 2 cups of semi sweet chips.  Then mix just until the flour is mixed in.

You now have this yummy cookie dough.  You know they say you can get salmonella from eating raw eggs right?  Well I was raised to live in fear of nothing so.... I had a few bites.. Maybe even enough bites to equal a cookie =P

I am not in anyways suggesting for you to eat raw eggs.

You know I like cookies... I have stated several times in this boring blog just how much I like cookies.  But  have I mentioned that I like them big too?  Well I do, just like I like most things in life to be......

Six cookies fit on my baking sheet.  I use a scooper to ensure they are the same size.  Once on the baking sheet I  flatten them out a bit.  Not enough to where they are part of the itty bitty commitee but just to where i'm not left with a big ball of raw dough in the center after baking.  I bake them for 14 minutes @ 375 or until golden brown.  Do not let that scare you, believe me these are not crunchy brown cookies.  These are chewy delicious and moist browned cookies!  Most of the browning comes from using whole wheat flour and the brown sugar that was added.  Those getting browned is alot diffrent than a cookie baked with butter and regular ap flour.  You will just have to trust me on this. 

Once you pull them from the oven you can try to get one off with a spatula to eat right away or you can wait just until you have noticed the rise in the cookie has settled.  That is when they are ready to be moved either to a cooling rack or to a napkin ready to eat. 

I enjoy the finer things in life with a big glass of milk.  You will definitely want something to drink after you finish the first cookie to make way for the 2nd cookie you will try to talk yourself out of but fail miserably at! 

Snickerdoodles! You know you want one!

So me in my oldest sister once owned our very own bakery.  The end.  Although anyone who came into the bakery knows these cookies as The Sweet Escape this recipe has actually been in the family awhile.    When me and my three sisters were little, my mother had a new junior cookbook that had this cookie recipe in there along with some other secret recipes to be shared later =)  Getting to make these cookies with my mom as a kid you would think she was letting us flambé bananas or something.   I can remember the kitchen smelling of warm sweet cinnamon.  Still one of my most favorite memories and still one of my most favorite cookies.  

Snickerdoodles

Preheat oven to 350

2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

3 cups / 330 g ap flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar (not to be confused with tartar sauce...seriously)

1/4 cup sugar
1TB cinnamon

When I decided to make these cookies today I thought I was so smart because I was going to get my butter soft by sitting it outside instead of microwaving it.  Well my new cook books distracted me longer than I had planned.   Lets just say I could have microwaved the butter for three minutes and it would have been firmer than leaving it outside!  So I started with 2 very soft sticks of unsalted butter and I add 1 1/2 cup of sugar.  I use my hand mixer to beat it until light and fluffy.  Once you are at the right consistency add both eggs at the same time and once again beat until light and fluffy.  With this recipe you can not over beat in my opinion.  Not with the results that I am looking for anyways.  

Once you have that done go ahead and mix up your dry ingredients.  Weigh out your 330g of AP flour (in baking I ALWAYS weigh my flour so I do not add to much) and add your 1/2 teaspoons of salt, cream of tartar, and baking soda.  Give that a good whisk then add that to your "wet" ingredients.  As you will notice in my picture I am doing it the opposite way.  In another picture not posted is me trying to beat this mixture on a high enough speed so it will pick up the excess flour mixture off the bottom of the bowl that needs to be mixed in!  Once again though I was not afraid of over mixing.


In just a small bowl I add my 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 Tb of cinnamon.  I could actually add more cause I like my snickerdoodles with a little spice.  With a name like that it needs to have a little kick (just not too much to where it taste bitter.)  Mix well and get ready to either spoon out dough balls or scoop them out.  All depending on what kind of gadget you have in your kitchen.  

Once the dough has been rolled in the cinnamon sugar place 6 of them them evenly apart on the baking pan. My cookies spread and they are about 4'' wide, they need their growing room.  Once on the sheet smash them just a bit to where they are no longer round on the top.  This keeps the center from keeping that small pillow of dough that will never cook down.  I have nothing against raw cookie dough trust me, I just don't want my snickerdoodles to look like that.. Slight perfectionist here.  

  

After baking for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees you will see a beautifully risen cookie that looks and smells amazing.  You may want a picture now cause they fall!  The air escapes them shortly after leaving the heat of the oven and you are left with this amazing chewy cinnamon butter cookie that will just put a smile on your face.  Not sure if it has a special power or what.  Seeing people react as adult the same was as I did as a kid while eating this cookie was probably the most memorable experience at the bakery.  Still one thing that makes me =)