Best Ever Cookies :)

I will admit now that I have a love affair with Cookies. I bake and bake, and eat and eat. Not many guys will say that they like to bake cookies, not many know how–but when my sweet tooth is begging for a sweet, soft, unhealthy treat I know exactly what to do….Bake!

Chocolate Chip—

1 cup of Butter, soft
1 cup of Brown Sugar, tightly packed
1 cup of White Sugar
3 eggs, well beaten
2 tsp Almond extract (or Vanilla)
3 cups of flower
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 12 ounce bag of Chocolate Chips (about 2.5 cups) 
OPTIONAL: Substitute 6 ounces of chocolate chips for 2 cups of 7-grain cereal or oatmeal….then you can say your cookies are healthy

Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenhiet. Get a good strong wooden spoon, preferably one with a short handle. DO NOT use a mixer, the dough is very thick and the mixer might have trouble with it (although you can try if you want).

Step 1: Cream together the soft butter and the sugars. When you are done the sugars should be fairly evenly distributed through the butter. This takes about a minute of mixing.

Step 2: Add the well-beaten eggs and the Almond/Vanilla extract to the mixture and mix it together well. Your mixture will be brown and somewhat runny (a bit like cake batter).

Step 3: Add the baking soda and salt–continue to mix the ingredients well. Begin to add flower mixing in one cup at a time. Make sure that each cup is level. When it is well mixed if the dough seems really sticky add another half cup of flower. If not all the dough sticks together really well that is OK, as long as it sticks together when you try to roll it into a ball….if it will not stick together no matter how hard you try you can try to salvage your cookies by mixing in an egg, half a cup of brown sugar, half a cup of white sugar, and a teaspoon of baking soda that is already mixed together. Then mix that in and begin adding flower in half-cup increments until you have thick dough that is not very sticky, but will still stick together when rolled into balls.

Step 4: Add the Chocolated Chips and/or (or not) the grain. Mix it through the dough as well as you can, using your hands if neccesary. 

Step 5: Make the dough into teaspoon sized balls (about an inch and a half in diameter) and place onto an ungreased cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes. Be sure to check the cookies every so often, some ovens bake hotter than others. Normally the first batch of cookies on a pan will require the most baking time, the rest will come a bit quicker since the pan is hot. When the cookies come out of the oven let them cool for a few minutes, then pat the top with a towell or spatuala until they flatten slightly. Depending on how many samples you take and how large you like your cookies this should yeild about 6 batches of 12 cookies. Best enjoyed with a big glass of milk.

 

Molasses Cookies–

2 eggs
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of shorting
6 Tbs. of Molasses
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
4 tsp Almond (or Vanilla) extract
5 tsp Baking Soda dissolved into 2 Tbs of Water
4 cups of flour

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 325 degrees farenheit. Grease 2 large cookie sheets with olive oil, butter, margerin, or shortning. DO NOT use Pam. It might have a cool name, but the bottoms of your cookies will not bake right if you use it.

Step 2: In a large bowl beat your eggs until they become fluffy. Add your sugar and shortning and beat well. Make sure that the cups of sugar and shortning are level cups. If you add too much shortning your cookies will have an off flavor.

Step 3: Add the Molasses, Cinnimon, Almond (or Vannila) extract, and Salt. Continue to mix until the mixture is even and there are no thick chunks of shortning or spices. Be careful with the Cinnamon, if you add too much you will need to double the recipe (not the Cinnamon or salt), or live with gross coookies.

Step 4: Add the baking soda and water that is mixed together. Stir the mixture into the bowl so that it is evenly distributed and you cannot see any water sitting on the surface. The dough will take on an odd texture and the suface will be pocketed with holes–do not be concerned. If you don’t see many holes that is ok too, you most likely just mixed it really well.

Step 5: Add the flour in half cup increments. When the dough is ready it will not be sticky, but you should be able to easily roll it into balls. Sometimes this will take and extra half-cup of flour, and sometimes it will take a half-cup less than is called for.

Step 6: Bake in the oven for 8-12 minutes at 325. Roll the dough into balls 2 inches in diameter (about the width of a table-spoon). The first cookies on a pan will take longer to bake than the rest. When you take out the cookies let them cool for a couple of minutes, then take a towell and pat the top so that they flatten slightly.

Pictures to come soon for the molasses cookies along with a sugar cookie recipe……yummy.

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