Chocolate chip cookies revisited

Everyone loves chocolate chip cookies.  If you don't, I'm sure your friends and family have already let you know how absurd you are.  I also know I've posted on chocolate chip cookies before.  And I know that you probably have made chocolate chip cookies before, and they were probably great.  However, it is exactly because of those things that I'm coming back to this.  Every recipe and cookie I've tried has been pretty good, but I've never had a chocolate chip cookie that just leaves me raving over how good it was. 

So to me, the chocolate chip (or m&m, I must admit I consider them pretty interchangeable) cookie has been a sort of challenge.  Can you make one that's so good people choose it over the gooey Paula Deen ones, or even over those fancy cupcakes someone brought to the same party?  I'm not sure that the answer is yes, at least not yet, but I think I'm getting close.

A long time ago I started with the recipe on a bag of chocolate chips, and since then I've been making changes each time.  Add or remove a little something, mess with the baking time or temp, make different sizes, etc.  The goal in mind was a cookie that held its shape (didn't flatten while cooling), had a crunchy outside, chewy inside, and was flavorful even if you happened to get a bit without chocolate.

So here it is.  I'm pretty happy with it, and I'd love to hear what anyone else thinks.  If you happen to give it a try, please let me know!









Ingredients:
1/2 Cup salted butter
1/2 Cup shortening
1 Cup light brown sugar
1/2 Cup white sugar
2 eggs
4 Teaspoons of vanilla
3 Cups wheat flour

1/2 Cup white flour
3 Teaspoons baking soda
1 Teaspoon salt
14 oz of chocolate chips or M&Ms

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 365
2) Combine dry ingredients, reserving the sugars, and set aside
3) Cream butter and shortening until completely blended, add sugars and continue to mix until slightly fluffy
4) Blend in vanilla and eggs
5) Slowly mix in dry ingredients until well combined
6) Stir in candy of choice
7) Roll walnut size (just smaller than a golf ball) balls of dough and place 2 inches apart on a non-greased baking sheet.
8) Bake for 16 minutes or until the edges begin to brown (cookie should also have cracks forming)
9) Allow to cool on the caking sheet for 3 minutes before moving to a cooling rack
                                                    

Paula Deen "Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies"

The first thing anyone thinks about when they hear "Paul Deen" is butter, and lots of it. This recipe doesn't disappoint (although you could argue that all cookies have about as much butter...).  At first glance I was pretty un-impressed since the recipe calls for a boxed cake mix, but I'm very glad I let go of that particular dislike because these turned out fantastic.

This was a very quick recipe- start to finish I had two dozen cookies in about half an hour.  The cookies were delicious warm and gooey out of the oven, but kept well for a few days too.  The one thing I didn't like- and this is just cosmetic- was that the powdered sugar sort of soaked in and crystallized after awhile.  I would make
these again in a heart beat, especially if I wanted to
bring a treat somewhere and didn't have much time.

I actually made this recipe twice in the course of a week.  I didn't really feel they were missing anything the first time I made them, but at the suggestion of Chris I added chocolate chips to the mix the second time around.  It was one of those moments where I realized I truly didn't know what I was missing until I had it.  They were absolutely the best chocolate cookie I'd ever eaten.  And I've eaten a lot of cookies...