The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

My husband and I have been making these cookies for a long time. Our 30th anniversary is this June, and I don't remember where the recipe came from, I just remember that right after we got married he found this recipe, he made it, and we loved it. Chocolate chip cookies are his absolute favorite, so this has always been considered his recipe. He immediately wrote it on a recipe card (very faded at this point, as you can see) and on the line for "from the kitchen of" he wrote Bob "the big cookie" Lane. For those of you who know my husband this will come as no surprise, and probably brings a smile to your face.

It always brings me great joy to pull this card from my file. Many memories--making them together to share with many precious people, teaching my children to make them, even the memory of the smell of them as they bake. We all know the recipe from heart, but I still pull it out each time I make them. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.


Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs (always use large eggs for baking)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I always use White Lily)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
12 oz. (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips

In mixing bowl, add brown sugar, sugar, butter and shortening. Cream until well combined (2-3 minutes). Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. In a separate bowl, sift flour, salt and baking soda with a whisk until well mixed. Add this dry mixture to the creamed mixture. Beat until blended; do not overbeat. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough from a teaspoon or tablespoon, depending on what size cookies you desire, onto an ungreased cookie sheet, approximately 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 ° for 8-10 minutes (ovens vary).

This recipe also does well as a "cookie cake" for special occasions. Simply spread the dough onto a deep cookie sheet/jelly roll pan (I use an 11 x 16 pan, or sometimes a round pizza pan) and bake for 15-20 minutes (until just brown). You can decorate with homemade icing and cake decorating bags and tips, but I often just use canned icing from the grocery store and top with a little melted chocolate in a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off. Here's a photo from my daughter's 21st birthday--she often requests this for her birthday cake!