Chocolate Chip Cookies

chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate chip cookies
Of all of the comfort foods in this world, my absolute favorite is a chocolate chip cookie. It is the first recipe I learned to make. It is my go-to recipe when I need to bring a dessert to a friend’s house. When I am craving something sweet, a scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough cures it every time. These cookies taste fantastic warm and gooey straight out of the oven and are still good three days later when you dunk them in milk so soften them up.

The recipe I use is adapted from my mother’s Betty Crocker cookbook. (affiliate link) It is the version she got when she was my age. Her cookbook is old and the pages are dog eared and falling out from years of use. You can’t even read the oatmeal cookie recipe because there is a hole worn in the page from being wiped clean of batter so many times. It is just a guess how much brown sugar is needed.

Chocolate chip cookie dough

When my sister and I used to bake these chocolate chip cookies, we used to fight over who got to pour the vanilla in and who got to stir in the chocolate chips. We have made this recipe so many different ways depending on what we had in the cupboard.

Ways To Switch It Up:

Leave out the eggs-this only works if you’re planning on only eating the dough (no judgement).  Otherwise, you need the eggs to make a good cookie.

Change the chips-Try milk chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch, cinnamon, M&M’s.  This batter can manage any variety of chips.  Try switching it up or just using a combination.  Something really nice is half semi-sweet and half white chocolate.

Add nuts-Of all the ways I’ve made these cookies, I don’t think I’ve ever added in any nuts but a cup of chopped toasted walnuts would make a nice addition.

chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword chocolate chip cookie
Prep Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2/3 c. shortening
  • 2/3 c. butter
  • 1 c. brown sugar
  • 1 c. white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 3 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 12 oz package chocolate chips
  • 1 c. nuts optional

Instructions

  • Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
  • If using a stand mixer, fit with paddle attachment. Cream together butter and shortening. Add in granulated sugar and white sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
  • Add in eggs, one at a time. Beat to combine. Add in vanilla and beat to combine.
  • Turn mixer speed to low. Add in baking soda and flour. Mix until just combined.
  • Fold in chocolate chips. I like to use a rubber spatula for this, it helps distribute the chips throughout all the dough.
  • Grease cookie sheets or line them with parchment.
  • Scoop tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes or until the bottoms are just starting to turn brown. My family prefers cookies on the gooier side, so I tend to try and err on the side of caution by pulling them out a bit early. However, if you like crunchy cookies, leave them in a minute or two longer.

Notes

Adapted from Betty Crocker (affiliate link).
When I was little, I melted the shortening and margarine in the microwave and stirred in the ingredients by hand. Now I am a grown up and am luck enough to have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer so I just throw everything in there with the paddle attachment and whip the batter right up. Its really personal preference. The mixer gives you a more whipped dough than stirring by hand, but the cookies come out pretty much the same. So I guess it depends on whether you like to eat whipped dough or not ( because really, who can make chocolate chip cookies and not snitch some of the batter?)
Pro Tip: If you get annoyed by not enough chocolate chips in the last bits of batter, save some of your chocolate chips back and fold them in after you’ve scooped out some of the dough.

If you like making cookies, especially ones with chocolate chips, you might want to try these caramel chocolate chip cookies with sea salt or maybe these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Happy Baking!

If you’d like to get recipes straight to your inbox, sign up for our mailing list!