September 2009

Here are the ingredients for my special Chocolate Chip & Craisin Cookies. One of these things is not like the other; remember that from Sesame Street?

One of these things helps mommy get through the hour of baking cookies after a really, really long flight home from NYC.

Here’s what goes in, minus the Diet Dr. Pepper. That’s all for me thanks.

Chocolate Chip Craisin Cookies
{makes about 2 dozen}

3/4 C white sugar
3/4 C packed brown sugar
1 C butter or margarine {softened}
2 eggs
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 C chocolate chips
1 C Craisins

First, mix together your sugars. I like to blend mine pretty well before I get anything else in the mixing bowl, it helps me sleep better at night.

Once you have those blended just so, add the butter. Even though the recipe calls for margarine I go with butter. It’s better for you {no, really it is} and I figure if I’m eating cookies anyway, all bets are off.

It’s not pretty, but they’re not cookies without it.

Once you put the butter in and mix it up really well it’s time to add the eggs. I couldn’t get an attractive photo of the eggs, but this is what the dough looks like after the butter & eggs:

Getting yummy….

Now you’re going to start adding all the dry ingredients. Here goes the flour.

And before you start mixing it up, add the salt. I forgot to include salt in the photo with all the ingredients, but it’s pretty critical.

Now mix again. You can stop periodically to scrape off the sides of the bowl; as a matter of fact I would highly recommend you do.

Make sure to mix really well, there’s nothing worse than a chunk of flour or salt in your cookie dough.

Isn’t it looking tasty?

At this point I add some Western Family Imitation Vanilla. Because I roll like that. Your typical chocolate c
hip recipe doesn’t call for Vanilla but I think it gives mine that little something something.

Now add your Craisins. These ones happen to be Orange flavored but I really love regular too. It’s chewy texture plus a little fiber, and who doesn’t love that?

Blend those up a little in the dough before you add the piece de la resistance…..

two cups of chocolate chips.

Mix those babies up until you end up with this:

Oh my heavens, I can almost taste it just looking at it now.
My taste-testers had to make sure it was delicious before baking. I can’t recommend this though, there are raw eggs in that dough. But everybody knows the only reason to bake cookies is for the cookie dough.
C feels pretty happy about this choice.

P feels pretty good about it too.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, spray up your cookie sheet. Mine has clearly been around a while {11 1/2 years to be exact, it was a wedding present}.

Again, Western Family brand is the way I roll.

Use your cookie scoop to shape your cookies. You don’t have one? How about an ice cream scooper? No? Use your hands, I’ll never tell.

Drop them on the cookie sheet like so:

And bake them at 375 degrees for about 8-10 minutes. I usually go for about 12 but that’s only because I have a ghetto oven. What? It still has two of it’s original buttons. Never mind that 95% of the time it doesn’t heat up at all, and when it does the food ends up tasting like gas. We’ll pretend for the sake of this post that I have a gourmet oven.

It worked this time! And look at those delicious cookies.

Once those beauties are all cooled off pop them in your cookie jar for consumption. This cookie jar is my new favorite. I got it at my local big box store for less than $4. Isn’t it pretty?

The weight you gain eating these pieces of heaven is not my fault.

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