Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I want you to take in these words, close your eyes, and visualize their meaning. Feel the warmth from the oven as you peer at them baking. Breathe in their scent, imagine the taste, the texture, and let it linger softly on your tongue. Chocolate Chip Cookies will always be my ultimate cookie. Certainly sugar, shortbread, and oatmeal raisin all have a time and a place, but they have never carved out such a sweet place in my heart like dear chocolate chip.

And oh what a sweet place it is.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Chocolate Chip Cookies

In my year and a half of blogging, I have never shared a chocolate chip cookie recipe with you. There was a reason for this. I've shared a variation here or there, but you don't mess around with the true classic. When I was going to share a chocolate chip cookie recipe with you, I didn't want it to be just any cookie. I wanted it to stand out, to be special, to be different.

A good chocolate chip cookie has a few requirements. A great chocolate chip cookie has many more. I know some of you prefer them thin and crispy, but today's recipe is all about the thick and chewy chocolate chip cookie.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This chocolate chip cookie recipe comes to me from a close family friend. It is her secret recipe, sought after by everyone blessed enough to try one of her cookies (me included). Fortunately, she has given me permission to share her secret with you. I won't reveal my source, however. The woman has an image to uphold (and a secret recipe to stay "secret").

This particular recipe has a slight twist. It is made with vegetable shortening instead of butter, which keeps the cookies wonderfully thick (cookies with a high butter content spread out very thin). The cookie also uses a couple tablespoons of mild molasses for one specific purpose. The molasses keeps the inside of the cookies soft for days (if they last that long, of course), without lending a distinct flavor. Five days on my kitchen counter and these cookies are as soft as the day I made them.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Chocolate Chip Cookies

These soft and chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies are the only chocolate chip cookie recipe you'll ever need. With just the right ratio of chocolate chips to cookie dough, the cookie maintains a very soft center while the edges stay lightly browned and crispy. These are lovely dipped into a glass of milk or eaten warm and gooey, straight out of the oven.

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Oatmeal Raisin Crisps

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Oatmeal Raisin Crisps

Oatmeal Raisin Crisps

This weekend has been about the balancing act of relaxation and productivity. It's a delicate harmony to achieve; so often the scale tips in one direction over the other. Either nothing gets done and guilt is felt the moment you turn away from the television or computer. Or, everything gets done but, with no detox from the stressors of the week before, Monday morning is definitely started off on the wrong foot.

At times this balance seems impossible to accomplish, especially if you happen to be like me.

Oatmeal Raisin Crisps Oatmeal Raisin Crisps

I woke up early on Saturday morning to go to the gym. Though I set my alarm for seven (two full hours later than I get up on weekdays), the sun hadn't yet thought about rising and the morning was darker than the dead of night. I struggled to pull myself out of bed and wipe the sleep from my tired eyes. It wasn't exactly the start to the day I imagined. Nevertheless there were muscles to be worked, so to the gym I went.

I juggled the rest of the day between working and falling asleep midway through episodes of reality TV. Sometimes I managed to do all three activities at the same time (does this make me good at multitasking?). Despite the spontaneous and unsatisfying naps, a lot more work (or stressing about doing work) was done than relaxing. Balance was not achieved.

Oatmeal Raisin Crisps

Today, thankfully, was a different story. I slept in until after the sun had said its hellos and, after a week of little sleep, it was exactly what I needed. I started off my morning with a honeycrisp apple and pumpkin spice latte. Even though several hours of work followed shortly thereafter, the day felt brighter. It was brighter.

And that made all the difference. Though I accomplished more today than I did yesterday (I even had time to make you a batch of cookies. It's true), I hardly feel like I spent more than a few moments surrounded by my endless to-do list. My attitude made all the difference. I think that just might be the secret to balance after all.

Well, that or caffeine...

Oatmeal Raisin Crisps Oatmeal Raisin Crisps

These Oatmeal Raisin Crisps have a dark depth of flavor. The cookies are made with heaps of oats, plenty of raisins, and extra molasses to bring out a deeper flavor. The cookies spread out quite a bit while baking, making them relatively flat and the edges crispy. If you are anything like me, you might just find yourself reaching for a second (or third) from the cookie jar.

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