Another night of tasty baking!

We're headed to a baby shower tomorrow afternoon and I thought some baked goodies would be well received by all involved (I happen to know firsthand that pregnant ladies love cookies...) It turns out new mothers also have a real soft spot for chocolate chip cookies (as does John!) so I figured I'd seize the chance to bake cookies and not have the responsibility of eating all 48 of them...

I swear up and down by this recipe, but the recipe itself is nothing special. The KEY TO GOOD COOKIES is how you cook them... If you don't watch them closely, you end up with those over-baked biscuits that all too many bakeries refer to as cookies. Don't get mixed up with 48 of those frisbees! Watch your cookies closely and DON'T over cook them!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: 

4 dozen cookies

Ingredients: 

11 ¹/₂ ounces Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
³/₄ cup sugar
³/₄ cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla
2 ¹/₄ cups unsifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¹/₂ teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional)

    

Directions

Heat oven to 375ºF.

Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy and lightened in color. Add eggs and vanilla, one at a time. Mix on low speed until incorporated. Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.

* I happen to think that most recipes ask for an excessive amount of chocolate chips. I usually opt for about 3/4 of a bag instead of the recommended whole bag... though it's possible I eat the remaining 1/4 bag of chips while I'm cooking. : )