I eat dessert every day. Every. Damn. Day. More often than not, I’m home when it’s ‘dessert time’ so that means I’ve got to make something. And we aren’t the type of people who keep our kitchen stocked with snacks or sweets (a curse and a blessing). Cookies seem to be my go-to since they’re pre-portioned and pretty darn easy to make. I’ve tried cakes and brownies here and there and I wind up eating most of the pan before Tyler even gets home. In this situation it’s poor him, not poor me.

Chocolate chip cookies always seem to be a no brainer when the question “Well, what TYPE of cookies shall I make?” Peanut butter is usually crossed off the list because I’m already eating a ton of it for breakfast, same goes with oatmeal, and anything that strays from a basic recipe is not even considered.

So chocolate chip it is. Tough life, I know.

My usual recipe was whatever was on the bag of the bag of chocolate chips I had on hand. But I found this recipe a couple of years ago and have since tweaked it a bit so that I have the absolute perfect chocolate chip cookie.

Ingredients

• 3/4 c butter, melted
• 1/4 sugar
• 3/4 packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 2 c flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 c + 2 T semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking pans with nonstick spray, set aside.
2. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment (or hand held if that’s what you have) mix melted butter, sugar and brown sugar on low speed until combined.
3. Add egg and once combined add vanilla.
4. Stop the mixer and add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix on low until combined.
5. Add chocolate chips and used a fork to incorporate in batter.
6. Make portions slightly larger than 1 T, roll into balls, and place on baking sheet.
7. Bake for 10 minutes and allow to sit for a few minutes on baking sheet to continue baking.
8. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to rest for a while before packing into airtight containers.

I can pretty much just stop right there because that’s all you needed, right? Well WAIT- THERE’S MORE. These don’t even have to be just the basic chocolate chip cookies. You can sub reese’s pieces (I have), mint chips, Hershey kisses. The list goes on and on.

The key factor I’ve found in making these a success is to underbake them. They might not look done when you take them out of the oven, but allow them to sit on the baking sheets for a bit and they’ll continue to cook and take shape. It’s the best little trick I know. Shit, cat’s out of the bag.

Now I’m going to have to find some other magical recipe to wow people at get togethers. This is going to be a toughie.

I’ve made this exact recipe at my mom’s house and they did not turn out AT ALL. So I am wondering if this is oven specific or even geographically specific (does that make sense?) Every single time I make them here, they turn out perfect. But every single time I try them at my parent’s house they come out flatter and browner.

I mean…I do have a pretty nice oven.

Either way…that shouldn’t deter you from at least trying this recipe for yourlsef. Worst case scenario they don’t turn out as beautifully delicious as mine and you end up have to crumble them up and use as an ice cream topper. Oh, the humanity.