The Valentine's Desserts that Almost Were

What do you do with 24 half-pint canning jars and a package of candy canes left over from Christmas?

You make beautiful Valentine's Day desserts. That flop. 

Well, that's what I did anyway. Not at all what I would recommend. I did learn some lessons from all of it: To read the ingredient list carefully; To think twice before taking on a huge dessert while on your own with two of your kids and you are 8 months pregnant and really tired; And, to read the ingredient list, again. 

I'm still going to give you the recipe because it is amazingly delicious. And, really it is not that difficult if you just read the ingredient list carefully.  If you're still on the hunt for a Valentine's Day dessert, this is it. A bunch of you (24 of you, to be exact) were actually going to have individual size versions of these delivered to your doorstep on Thursday.  Um . . . . not so much now. But, make it for yourself, especially if you have leftover Christmas candy canes. Put them to good use! Just be sure to WHIP the WHIPping cream before adding it to the other ingredients. Because I didn't do that. And it was a runny mess.  True story, friends. 

Frozen Peppermint Cheesecake 

Ingredients

For Crust
1 1/4	c. choc wafer cookies, crushed
1/4	c. butter, melted
1/4	c. sugar
For Cheesecake
1	8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
1	14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1	c. hard peppermint candy or candy canes, crushed
1/2	c. mini choc chips
2	c. (1 pt) whipping cream, WHIPPED

For Crust
1.	Combine cookie crumbs, butter and sugar

2.	Press firmly on bottom and halfway up sides of 9" springform pan, 13"x9" baking dish, or individual size glass dishes. I used half-pint wide mouth glass canning jars.

For Cheesecake
1.	In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy
2.	Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk
3.	Stir in crushed candies and choc chips
4.	Fold in whipped cream. (Note: Seriously, WHIP the whipping cream before you add it. I am a total dork that I didn't do that. Major flop.)

5.	Pour into prepared pan; cover
6.	Freeze 6 hours or overnight

Serving
1.	Cut into desired number of slices
2.	Garnish with peppermint candies, whipped cream and/or choc sauce, if desired
3.	Return leftovers to freezer

Peppermint Candy Cane Brownies

I love to bake. Not really a secret. Is baking a spiritual gift? If so, then I think I have it. My true gifting in life.

I don't love to cook. Not really a secret, either. The other day, one of my kids said, "Mom, what would we do without Daddy? All we'd have to eat is chocolate chip cookies." So true, sweet child, so true.

Christmas is the best season of the year for bakers like me. There's always a reason to buy butter in bulk at Costco and to turn on the oven.

At the end of the Christmas season last year, I found this recipe for Peppermint Candy Cane Brownies from the ladies at Our Best Bites. Almost everything about them was amazing. The only problem was, I couldn't get the brownie layer quite right. I've just never been able to make a homemade brownie that tastes better than the mix made by Ghirardelli's.

So this year, I decided to give them another try with a few tweaks of my own, including Ghirardelli's brownie mix.

After taking them to two events this past week, I've had a lot of requests for the recipe. So, without any further ado . . . may I present to you . . .

Peppermint Candy Cane Brownies (recipe adapted from Our Best Bites):

Brownies:
2 packages Ghiradelli's Triple Chocolate Brownie Mix (I use two of the pouches from the Costco pack)

Peppermint Frosting:
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1 Tbsp milk
pink food coloring

Chocolate Glaze:
1 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 Tbsp unsalted butter

Candy Topping:
1/2 - 1 cup crushed candy canes

What to Do (layer by layer):

Brownie Layer:
Bake brownies according to package instructions in 9x13 pan. When brownies are completely cool, place in refrigerator to chill.
Peppermint Frosting Layer:
Combine all peppermint frosting ingredients and beat until light and fluffy. Spread evenly over chilled brownies and place back in the fridge to chill again while you make chocolate glaze.
Chocolate Glaze Layer:

In microwave safe bowl, heat chocolate chips and butter at 30 second intervals until smooth. Let sit for a few minutes at room temperature, stirring occassionally, to just cool a little bit. Remove brownies from refrigerator. Spread chocolate glaze over the peppermint frosting layer. 

Candy Topping Layer:

Previously I had always taken candy canes in the garage with a mallet to crush them. Usually an ideal job for Marshall. This year, I wised up, and just crushed them in my Cuisinart mini food processor. So. much. easier. and. safer. (But not as much fun if you ask Marshall). Sprinkle crushed candy canes over top of chocolate glaze. Return brownies to refrigerator to allow the chocolate glaze to set. 

Remove brownies from refrigerator a few minutes before you are ready to cut and serve. Also, I have cut and served the brownies without letting the chocolate glaze set in the refrigerator. Totally okay. These brownies will likely be calling your name, and it's hard to wait! Just know it might be a little messier - but equally delicious!

A Book and a Recipe

Oh what a rainy, windy, dark morning. And . . . shhhhh . . . don't tell anyone . . . I LOVE it. There is just something about the wind and the rain and the cold that I LOVE. My friend, Samm, and I really don't mind trading in our 5:15am walk for coffee at Starbucks. (Yes, we are fairweather walkers). And, the weather gives me an excuse to stay in with the my kids - to curl up with them in our pajamas with good books. And to bake yummy warm pumpkin treats.

Not that I got to stay in today.  After two beautiful days of sunshine, today - the windy and rainy day - was our Classical Conversations pumpkin patch field trip. Despite the cold and wet clothes, our kids still had a fun, muddy time!

Photo Credit: Angelina Buswell

Photo Credit: Angelina Buswell

But, if we had stayed in, we would have read books.  And, one of our favorite Fall books is Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving. It was almost impossible to check-out from the library last year. I think there were enough requests for this book that I would have had to wait almost a year to be able to check it out. I went ahead and bought it, and I'm so glad I did. Such a beautiful true story that demonstrates God's breathtaking sovereignty over the course of our lives. I cannot say enough good things about it.

Finally, one of our favorite Fall recipes, passed on to me a couple of years ago by my BFF, Bethany. I'm giving you fair warning that these muffins are delicious and addictive.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

You need:
1 2/3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup chocolate chips

To Do:
Preheat oven to 350F. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. In another bowl beat eggs, pumpkin, and butter. Stir in chocolate chips and add to the dry mixture. Scoop into greased muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes. I almost always take them out at 20 minutes, even if they are slightly gooey inside. Let them sit in the muffin tins for a little while on the stovetop and they will continue to bake.

Happy eating!

What is there that a little Call Me Maybe can't fix . . .

Rough morning. Every person in this house woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Every.one.of.us. Maybe it was the chocolate cake a little too late last night. Or maybe it was the slight cold that some of us have. Or maybe it is just a case of the Mondays. But, whatever it was, it brought tears and cranky heads.

So, I did what any good homeschool mom would do.

Piled all the kids in the car and drove to the Bux. Got a nonfat Caramel Macchiato. Thankful to be feeling better enough that I can (occasionally) see the face of my favorite drive-thru barista again. (Love you, Carmel!)

Closed the books. Put away the pencils. And put on a little Carly Rae. And Jessica Simpson. And Katy Perry. Threw in a little old school Madonna for good measure. And we danced.

Turned on the oven. And mixed up some of Grammy Sue's pumpkin bars. With Gram-Gram Robyn's buttercream frosting.

Problem solved. Caffeinated mama. House smells like fall. Kids have smiles. This is the Monday the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

If you're looking for a yummy fall recipe, to fill your house with pumpkin smell, here you go. I know there is a cream cheese frosting recipe at the bottom of the pumpkin bar recipe card. We don't use it at our house. Not too many cream cheese frosting fans. So, we substitute in the buttercream recipe.

Happy Weekend and a Bonus Recipe

It's Friday!  Woo to the Hoo!

Our family's Friday was yesterday. After Marshall's t-ball game last night, and a stop at Walery's for pizza, we headed to Sunriver for a long weekend of fun.

Oh. Wait. The main reason we are here is for Eric to run a trail half-marathon on Sunday with his friend, Conrad. Right. We are here with a purpose. Eric gets to run 13.1 miles on a trail. At high elevation. He has a buddy to do it with. And, they are excited about it. It is fun for the two of them. (Oh, and, the race starts and finishes at some guitar place called Two Old Hippies. Yes, we do live in Oregon. Uhthankyou.)

 And, Conrad's wife, Kari, is one of my best friends. This situation works out fantabulously for me. (By the way - if you enjoy real, from the heart, honest blogs from women who love the Lord, Kari's blogpost from this morning is where it's at. Check.check.check.it.out.)

Things like donuts for breakfast are fun for the rest of us.

I hope all of you have a fantastic weekend. To make it a little yummier, here is one of my new fave recipes for Double Chocolate Cookies. Now, when you look at this recipe, please do not say "eww, yuck" just because it calls for ground coffee and chili powder. (Not that anyone would do this, in particular one of our neighbors . . . ahem). Because after you make them, and eat one warm, you will not say "eww, yuck." You will say "oh.my.yum." (Again, not that this happened with anyone we know in real life - LOL).

Double Chocolate Cookies  (originally posted by my interweb friend, Jami Nato)
What you need:
1 stick of butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp ground coffee
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips


What you do:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
In KitchenAid, cream butter and sugars together. Add vanilla, coffee, chili powder, salt and soda. Mix on speed 2 until incorporated. Add egg and mix. Add cocoa powder and mix. Add flour and mix. Now stop using your KitchenAid. Add chocolate chips and mix with a wooden spoon. Place in heaping spoonfuls on cookie sheet. When I make them, the recipe yields 16 cookies perfectly. This allows for some amount of cookie-dough eating. (Not that I'm suggesting you eat the dough. Because you're not supposed to. You know. Raw eggs and salmonella and all. Psshh.)
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.


Enjoy them warm. Magically.Delicious.

Dutch Dutch Baby

Dutch dutch baby . . . sounds like a bad song from 1990, yes? Ok I am a huge dork. I won't pretend not to be. We did go to a great concert at the Wonder Ballroom last night, though. With some really awesome friends. To see a super-talented musician from 2012. Ben Howard. Check him out. He's just that good.

Okay, okay, moving on to the real topic of the day... Dutch Baby. Growing up, my family spent many weekend mornings eating breakfast at The Original Pancake House. Dutch baby has always been on the menu. The menu notes that it takes extra time to prepare. And it comes out a big, puffy glorious platterful of yumminess. I always figured something that special and delicious must also be difficult to create.

Then I married Eric. And gained a fabulous cook of a mother-in-law, Robyn.

One morning, after Eric and I had stayed the night at their house, she made a dutch baby. I was still asleep when she made it. When I came into the kitchen, and discovered she had made a dutch baby, I was in awe.

Eric and I started having kids of our own. Robyn passed down some of their family's favorite recipes. Including the recipe for dutch baby. One morning I pulled it out. Wait. What?? It's that easy??


So, I'm sharing the recipe here today. Dutch Baby is just so easy. It's one of my go-to recipes for a easy, hot breakfast. It's always met with cheers and squeals of excitement. It's impressive to serve for company (not that I'm condoning pride :)! ) And you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen right now.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter
5 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour (I've heard that it even tastes good with gluten-free flour alternatives)

Optional for serving:
Powdered sugar
Syrup
Berries

First, occupy your toddler.

Put butter in 9"x13" pan and set in a 425 degree oven to melt. (I set pan in oven while oven is heating).

While butter is melting put the eggs in a blender and blend on high for 1 minute. Gradually add milk, then flour (slowly). Blend for 30 seconds. Having a little red-headed helper is nice too.

Remove the baking dish from the oven and pour batter into the hot melted butter. Return to heated 425 degree oven and bake until puffy and nicely browned. Approximately 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve immediately. Seriously delicious with syrup. Or fresh berries. Or berry compote. Or with some sauteed apples with sugar and cinnamon.

Now, of course, the one day I decided to take pictures of a dutch baby it didn't turn out so puffy. I forgot to set the timer, and I don't think it cooked quite long enough. But just imagine all of the sides puffed up with buttery goodness. And go listen to some Ben Howard to get that Vanilla Ice song out of your head. You'll be glad you did.

Keeping My Promises

Last night, my house was filled with one of my favorite sounds. Laughter and chatting rang through the house. Fourteen of my favorite women gathered in my kitchen. We ate and talked and laughed. and ate and talked. and laughed. We never really left the kitchen, actually.

After a long winter, some of us West Valley girls decided that a girls' night was in order. Five minute conversations before and after church on Sundays are not enough. Between sick kids, traveling, and other commitments it seems there are some women who haven't seen each other in months! I am so thankful that I fellowship with these women, that they are part of my church family.  Some of them are new friends. Others are women who I've known for several years. But, I never cease to be amazed at the beauty of the Lord working in their lives. Each time I visit with any of them bits and pieces of their individual stories come out. Funny stories from the past, the journey they've walked thus far, current and past struggles, victories, losses, amazing twists and turns that have brought them to where they are right now. Thank you ladies of West Valley for such a fun evening!

My evening with these ladies also included keeping a promise to all of you blog readers. This promise was easy to keep. Because it involved me getting to eat chocolate cake. My favorite chocolate cake of all time. Chocolate Kahlua Cake, covered in chocolate ganache. Please gaze upon this object of beauty.

I wish I could claim this recipe as some concoction that I just whipped up on my own. But I have to give credit to Demarle -- the Silpat company. I sold their product via home parties for about five minutes a few years back. Haha. What was I thinking? Home parties are so much work. But, the product is awesome. And I do know a really fabulous rep  here in Salem who is currently selling Demarle. I am just not selling it myself. However . . . my brief career with the company landed me a crazy collection of their cooking gear and fabulous recipes. Chocolate Kahlua Cake was one of them. Try it some time. Eat it warm. With warm ganache. LOVE.

Chocolate Kahlua Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Cake:

1 package Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 cup Kahlua

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Ganache:

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Optional:  Slice strawberries

Make sure the oven rack is in the center position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Cake:  Combine cake mix, eggs, sour cream, Kahlua, and oil.  Beat with an electric mixer for 1 to 2 minutes.  Do not over mix.  Only mix until ingredients are blended.  Stir in chocolate chips with a spatula.  Pour batter into bundt pan.  Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool.  

Ganache:  When ready to serve cake, in a saucepan bring whipping cream to a boil  Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips.  Pour immediately over cake and serve.  

Optional:  Fill the middle of the bundt cake with sliced strawberries before serving.

Robyn's Chicken Lasagna

It's a Thursday. Sean and Ashley H will be here in t-minus one hour and dinner is in the oven. It's my week to feed us all.

And when the weather looks like this:

Then dinner should really be something warm and yummy like this:

Super yummy amazing chicken lasagna. This is a recipe that was passed on to me by my so-fab MIL. She came across it in a magazine years ago, photocopied the recipe and saved it. I'm not even sure if she knows which magazine it was anymore. The photocopied page doesn't say. So, for now we'll just call it Robyn's Chicken Lasagna.  It is pure yummy goodness. Like really thick baked cheese-y chicken noodle soup.

Robyn's Chicken Lasagna

You need:
1 8 ounce package medium egg noodles
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups chopped cooked chicken
      Side Note: I use approximately 5 breast fillets to get this amount. I put all of the meat from the 5 fillets in the lasagna, even if it makes more than 4 cups. Also, a quick way to cook the chicken is in a 9 x 13 glass pan in the microwave. Cover and cook for approximately 7 minutes per pound. 
1 (24-ounce) carton cottage cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Here's how you do it:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook noodles according to package directions; drain and set aside.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; stir in flour and next 3 ingredients. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add broth, stirring until smooth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 to 8 minutes or until thickened and bubbly.

Stir in chicken; remove from heat.

In a separate bowl, combine cottage cheese and egg, stirring well.

Now you should have your noodles, the chicken mixture, and the cottage cheese/egg mixture. You'll also need the mozzarella cheese. 

Spoon about one-third of the chicken mixture into a lightly greased 13-x-9-x-2 inch baking dish.

Top with half each of noodles, cottage cheese mixture, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, ending with chicken mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Eat. It. Up. 

We also had really really really (get the picture?) really yummy dessert tonight from Salem's own Sugar Sugar.  

The cute, fun candy and cupcake boutique in downtown Salem. Conveniently located one half-block from Eric's work. Is there anything not to love about a candy and cupcake boutique? I mean, please. Of course I might ask the hubs to bring me home the occasional cupcake. Oh come on, you know you'd do it too. I won't argue if you'd like to help me keep them in business!

Marriage, Soup and Reality

So - anyone who has ever had a post-baby dinner delivered by our family is likely aware of my ability to rock chicken tacos. It's not like it's hard. Just toss boneless, skinless chicken breast (frozen or fresh), some chicken broth and a package of taco seasoning into the crockpot. Let it cook. It works on any setting. I've done it for four hours, six hours, eight hours and ten hours. So . . . every setting on my crockpot. It works the same every time. If you happen to have an amazing husband like mine who makes homemade chicken broth it will taste even better. But, canned chicken broth works just fine.

New topic. But it's related. I promise. I have this new-ish friend named Ashley H. (Not to be confused with Ashley H. of The Bachelor-fame) (And ... ahem ... she needs a blog... just saying, Ash...).  Have you ever had one of those friends who, as soon as you meet them, you like them? Ashley is one of those friends. She quickly endeared herself to my heart with her love for the Lord and her love for my kiddos. And she's fun, an added bonus!  It is so easy to look at this young woman's life and see how she has been the Lord's from the time she was little. I've been blessed by her a bunch in the last few months.

Ashley is married to Eric's longtime friend, Sean. Sean and Ash are newlyweds. They've been married for a short and sweet six months. By the way - here are some BEAUTIFUL pics of their wedding. Ash did a lot of the decor herself. Look at the pics and you'll see why she needs her own blog ASAP. (Come on, Ash . . . you know you want to). Plus, they are just one adorbs couple!

I have been impressed by their desire to build their marriage right from the start. Sometimes, the first year of marriage isn't 100% smooth sailing, and they have been determined to work out those kinks early on. They've been spending Thursday evenings at our home with us watching the Mars Hill Church sermon series, Real Marriage. You can download the sermon series FREE at the Mars Hill website. And, there is a correlating book written by Pastor Mark Driscoll and his wife, Grace.

We have dinner together on Thursday nights before we watch the sermon. A few weeks back, they showed up with this chicken tortilla soup for dinner. Ohmyyum.

Ashley H's Tortilla Soup 

Ingredients:

3-4 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded (If you're short on time, you can cook the chicken in a 9x13 glass pan in the microwave. Seven minutes per pound.)

1 can chicken broth 

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 tbsp taco seasoning

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can black beans

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can diced green chiles

Directions: Combine chicken broth, cream of chicken (plus one can water) and taco seasoning in a pot on medium heat. Whisk together until blended. Shred your chicken. Add chicken to the broth/soup/seasoning mixture. Stir. Add tomatoes, beans (I drain the beans a little bit, but I don't rinse them), corn and chiles. Mix well. Keep on medium heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring often. When it’s all ready to eat, top with cheese. Serve with tortilla chips and sour cream.

How easy is that?? So - I told you this related to me making meals for people. I think this is my new go-to. Forget chicken tacos. If you've had a baby recently and we are bringing you dinner, speak up if you don't want this. Because you can be 99% certain that this is what I'll be holding on your doorstep when I come bearing dinner.

Finally, I've had some people mention recently that they think my house must be spotless all the time. To dispell the myth, I'm swallowing my pride and posting the following pictures. Sometimes (okay, most of the time) by the end of the day my kitchen looks like, well, a disaster. And, sometimes it even looks like this in the morning. Like, first thing in the morning. Because I didn't clean up the mess the night before. Here's the proof. Here's my daily reality. And, you can't even see the cookie that Jameson took around the house and smashed all over the floors while I made soup while making one twenty minute phone call. But, the soup was worth it - like heaven in a bowl. And the conversation was a little slice of heaven too - thanks Katie K for the sweet fellowship over the phone this afternoon. Made. My. Day.

THE Cookies. Yes, THOSE Cookies.

Over the years, I have developed this crazy reputation as an expert chocolate chip cookie baker. My best friends have told me to not even try to be humble about it. Just admit it. So I am. My chocolate chip cookies are uh.maz.ing. Uhthankyou.

My cookie baking started young. I would stand on the door of the open dishwasher to help my mom, starting when I was maybe two years old. (I'm not suggesting that as a good idea for your kids - at least one dishwasher broke that way and my parents wised up and got me a stool. It was cute and wooden and the legs looked like elephants).  Anyway . . . I've already told you that my mom did pass down her mad baking skills. She made the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. And, she taught me how to make them.

Detour:  I know that I've been mentioning my mom a lot. Things about myself have just been reminding me of her.  Yikes! Scary, I know. LOL! One of these days I will share on here the story about my mom, and breast cancer, and losing her.  Needless to say, she was my best friend, my biggest cheerleader, and (obviously) had so much influence on my life.

Back to the cookies. The first time I had an inkling there was something special about these cookies was in late elementary school.  My family spent our summers at a lakeside home in this little place called The Northwoods. It is near Mt. St. Helens, close to the town of Cougar, Washington.  That is a sufficient reference point for all of you right? The metropolis of Cougar, population 12.

So, my mom would sometimes run out of ways to occupy us, especially if the weather wasn't ideal for waterskiing and swimming. See, there is no electricity at this home . . . that means no cable TV, no movies, no phone. The interweb was not even invented back them. We actually used propane lights most of the time. This also meant that we almost always used a butane curling iron.  Do you even know what that is?  Maybe I should offer free cookies to anyone who knows what that is without googling it ...Wait - that might be a lot of cookies.  Free cookies to anyone who has actually had to use a butane curling iron...

So, sometimes my mom set me up with a cookie stand. Yep, me selling chocolate chip cookies. I sold them for 25 cents a piece. I don't think that it was even enough to cover the cost of the ingredients. But, apparently my mom didn't mind eating that cost.  It kept me busy - baking cookies and selling them on my little folding card table in our gravel driveway.

Conveniently, our house was located on the main hill for entering or leaving The Northwoods. Lots and lots of car and foot traffic on that gravel road. (I can still hear my dad's voice yelling "Slow Down!" to the cars speeding by.) I remember when women walking by would buy one cookie and be back about 30 seconds later after eating this amazing piece of chocolate chip goodness. They'd be wondering if I could bake them an entire batch of cookies.  Almost always they were expecting house guests and wanted to pass the cookies off as their own.

Since those days I've baked so many batches of these cookies. I guess those summers of baking batch after batch of cookies really perfected my craft.  People love them. When they have babies and I bring them a dinner they ask if I could please include those cookies. I've had friends come watch me make them and take notes.

So - at the request of Lauren E, Shanna C and other numerous friends over the years, here it is. This is how I make my chocolate chip cookies. Step-by-step instructions, brand names and all. (*I am a brand snob. I swear it makes a difference in how they taste. You can use generics if you want, but I am telling you brand names because so many gals have wanted to know exactly what I use.*)  I finally have a place to give all of you the recipe at the same time, and you can come back here again and again to get it. I can't guarantee that they will turn out the same. It might be a unique gift of the Holy Spirit that has been bestowed upon me (haha). But - I'm willing to spill the goods. Right here.

Now, you may disagree with some of my methods.  I'm not saying I've got the corner on chocolate chip cookie baking. I mean, Mrs. Field's makes a mean cookie, too. I'm just saying that certain people like the way these turn out. There might be a slight obsession by some. (not naming names. you know who you are). And, they want to know how to make that cookie. They are not vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free or lowfat.  But they are crazy delish.

Ingredients:
1 cup Crisco shortening. I do not use butter flavor Crisco. I use the one with the blue label. And, I use the sticks. I do not measure it out of the tub. That is messy and greasy. (Yes, I know lard is so bad for you. Don't start m'kay? I know that butter is a better choice.)
1 cup C&H golden brown sugar. Not dark brown.
1/2 cup C&H granulated white sugar
1 tsp Arm & Hammer baking soda. By the way, using fresh baking soda makes a difference.
1 tsp Morton's table salt.
2 tsp vanilla. Use pure vanilla extract. The Kirkland kind is awesome. Just please please don't use imitation vanilla unless you really have to.
2 Large Grade A eggs. It doesn't seem to matter what color, organic, cage free, or any of that.
2 1/4 cups Gold Medal All-Purpose Unbleached Flour. The bleached kind actually works great too.
1 12 oz. package (or 2 cups) of Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. Yes. Use the entire package. Do not skimp on the chocolate.

Eric actually likes my cookies better made with unsalted butter, C&H dark brown sugar, and Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips instead. So, that is how I make them for him. (The things we do for love). However, they are not the same as the cookie you all have come to love.

Are you ready?? Here we go!!

Pull out your two eggs from the fridge to bring them to room temperature.

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. I put my baking rack on the next to highest rack. Now, I want to show this picture to help you all out. But, please only look at this picture if you promise to not judge me for the (un)cleanliness of my oven:

Mix the Crisco, brown sugar and white sugar together either in a Kitchen Aid or with a wooden spoon.

I love this attachment by New Metro for the Kitchen-Aid. It is wide enough that it scrapes the bottom and the sides of your bowl while it mixes. No more scraping with a spatula. Brilliant.

Now, take your bowl off of the Kitchen-Aid and start mixing with a wooden spoon from now on. I promise, it makes a huge difference. Use those biceps, ladies. Swimsuit season will be here before you know it. And, stirring with a wooden spoon obviously counteracts the calories consumed when eating these cookies.

Add the salt, baking soda and vanilla and stir with your wooden spoon. Make sure that your teaspoons of salt and baking soda are level.  You want them perfectly full, NOT heaping!

Add in the two eggs.

Mix in the flour. When you measure the flour make it a level cupful. Again, NOT heaping and not only partially full. Eliza's little hands will demonstrate how to do this.

Mix in the chocolate chips.

Scoop dough in heaping teaspoonfuls. I use a cereal spoon and scoop with that. This is the largest size Silpat, to give you an idea of size. I can fit 16 cookies. The most important thing is to make them equal size, whatever size that might be.

Also - I don't think that the Silpat makes a huge difference (maybe no difference) in cookie quality. I like them because you can throw them in the dishwasher and they clean up so easily. But, I've been making these cookies for years, long before the Silpat was introduced and my cookies have always been the same.

The three cookies in the bottom left hand corner were made by my oldest kiddo. He likes to roll them into balls. I don't suggest this!

Now, your cooking time will vary depending on your oven. Generally, it takes between 8 and 10 minutes. DO NOT overbake your cookies. They should still look undercooked when you take them out. They will keep cooking for a few minutes after you take them out of the oven. It will just take some experimenting for you to figure out about how long the ideal bake time if for your oven.

Well, now I've given away my best-kept secret. My most treasured recipe. I guess I'll find out who my real friends are when you all quit needing me to make cookies for you. Who only loved me for my cookies?  Ha! Happy Baking!!