Everybody Loves Cookies

If you are planning to bake cookies for a holiday platter, try a winner from the Minneapolis Star Tribune Cookie Contest. Winners are posted in the Star Tribune today. In addition to your favorites, don't forget the American classic chocolate chip!

Here's my favorite from Baking Basics and Beyond. Happy baking!

Chocolate Chip Cookies Deluxe


Toll House, or Chocolate Chip, Cookies are definitely the most famous cookies in America. I use both butter and shortening in my recipe—a combination that gives the cookies a buttery flavor and a softer texture. Be creative and experiment with different combinations of “extras,” such as butterscotch chips, milk chocolate chunks, and crunchy macadamia nuts.

MAKES 4 DOZEN COOKIES

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
1 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans, if desired

Heat oven to 375°F with oven rack in middle (see Baker’s Notes below).
Mix flour, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl.
Beat butter, shortening, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in bowl of a heavy-duty mixer on Medium-High speed until creamy, scraping down bowl once or twice. Add vanilla and egg and mix well.
Reduce mixer speed to Low and add the flour mixture. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat until dough forms. By hand, stir in chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and pecans.
Drop dough in rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are browned on edges. Let cookies stand on cookie sheet for 1 minute before removing them. Cool on wire cooling rack.
These cookies should be stored loosely covered at room temperature.

BAKER’S NOTES: For uniform cookies, I drop the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet using a 1-tablespoon scoop that I purchased at a specialty store.
I usually place my oven racks on the second and fourth levels and bake two cookie sheets at once. If the heat in your oven is uneven, rotate the sheets halfway through baking.
SECRETS TO SUCCESS: Line a cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper for easier clean-up.
If you like softer cookies, remove them from the oven when the edges are barely browned even though the cookies still look slightly moist in the center. They firm up as they cool.