{not-just-any-old chocolate chip cookie}

these make great christmas presents for coworkers, daycare employees, mail and newspaper delivery folks, hairdressers… pretty much everyone loves chocolate chip cookies! just wrap a few up in a cute paper sack with some ribbon and wa-la! instagift!

not-just-any-old chocolate chip cookie

here are the star players:

3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup regular sugar
1 cup crisco
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 12 oz bag milk chocolate chips
1 12 oz bag butterscotch chips

cream together the two sugars and the crisco

add the eggs, incorporating one at a time.

add the vanilla. mix on low to combine.

meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.

add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in two batches, mixing on low to incorporate well between each addition.

this is what makes these “not-just-any-old” cookie – add a whole bag of butterscotch chips to the batter. this isn’t essential because i realize that not everyone loves butterscotch as much as my husband and i… but this seriously takes it to a whole. nother. level.

then add the whole bag of chocolate chips. mix on low to combine.

an essential element to cookies that come out perfect and evenly baked is proper portioning. if your cookies are all the same size they will all come out evenly baked. this is the scoop i use – you can find it from pampered chef here. i fill the scoop and then make sure the bottom is completely flat.

another important aspect is to evenly space the cookies on the sheet. these particular cookies are not going to spread out much but it gives the hot air plenty of room to move around the cookies, hence more of the evenly baked goodness.

i also use a silpat but it is not necessary. make sure you give it a good coat of non-stick spray between each batch.

word to the wise – don’t turn your back or your (my) husband will snag a ball of cookie dough. you would think by now i would have learned.

here is the most important step in this process. bake these cookies for nine minutes at 350 degrees. nine minutes. no more. no less. they will look half-way done and still gooey in the center but you just have to trust me on this. pull them out of the oven and let them finish baking on the cookie sheet for about five minutes. this will give them just enough time to firm up enough to remove from the cookie sheet and place on a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.

i use three cookie sheets and rotate them. always let your cookie sheet cool completely before adding another batch of cookies or the bottoms will be overbaked when you take them out of the oven. it really only takes cookies sheets about 10 minutes to cool completely and it will be well worth your wait!

this is the cookbook that my mother-in-law’s recipe is in. it was a really sweet gift from one of chris’ best friends, brittany. it has the cookie recipe, a recipe for brittany’s famous gumbo and her mom’s amazing comforting chicken noodle soup. it also has this super cute picture of my husband helping his mom make cookies.

this is what happens in my house when i bake these cookies. not only does my husband try to secretly snatch up some cookie dough, these four-legged loves of mine patiently wait for me to accidentally drop a bit of it on the floor. which never happens much to their dismay.

my neighbor katrina had her birthday last week so when i made these cookies i sent some over to her in one of her bowls i had with a little birthday card i whipped up out of some leftover wrapping paper. just an example of how simple packaging looks awesome when it contains some delicious cookies!

this recipe makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies. store these in a zip lock bag at room temperature with a slice of bread in the bag. the bread will dry out and leave all the moisture for the cookies, allowing them to stay gooey for up to two weeks… IF the cookies last that long. they never last that long in my house!

enjoy!