Cookies. Covid cookies.

Does anyone have an absolute favorite baked good? Is there one thing you crave more than anything else? One flavor? One texture? One type of sweet treat? Is there something that takes you back, makes you feel like a kid again? Provides you comfort?

You’re lucky if you answered yes.

My problem is that the “one thing”…. is 10 things. All different. Why can’t I make up my mind?

Today I was thinking about chocolate chip cookies. At work today, the nurse managers came around with snacks and drinks to show nurses they are appreciated. It was nice, I haven’t seen a lot of that from leadership where I work in the past. Things have been hectic and constantly changing. It made for positive vibes. It was lovely to be given the option of those packaged tiny cookie bites like Chips Ahoy! or Gramas cookies or cookie flavored protein bar, but for me… I just wanted a big ‘ol chocolate chip cookie, not the packaged kind, the kind right out of the oven. Hot and fresh.

I have 3 go to recipes for chocolate chip cookies. One is the recipe on the inside of the quaker oats container, its actually an oatmeal raisin recipe but its quite easy to switch chocolate chips for raisins. I learned this from my parents. Both my mom and dad made chocolate chip cookies using this recipe when I was a young’en. You see, what you do is instead of putting in raisins, you use chocolate chips- and follow the rest of the recipe. You can also get wild and crazy and add nuts and shredded coconut if you want to. My parents always did. I feel like it’s my “healthy cookie” recipe. But lets be honest, it still has butter and sugar. The next recipe is the solid gold, but its the most time consuming. Brown butter chocolate chunk cookies. Sigh, brown butter. Is there anything more decadent than roasty toasty nutty brown butter? You could literally add it to anything… I add it to cookies. But, it takes a while. And for those of you who have made brown butter or what the french call “beurre noisette” there is also burned butter… and the timeframe between brown butter and burned butter is very short. I have a puppy and a new stove that seems like it cooks everything SUPER hot. There will be no brown butter for a while, alas, I have no time for that. The last one is the one I am about to share with you…. right now…. that I have adapted over the years from several different recipes starting out as the tollhouse cookie recipe (you know, on the chocolate chip bag) and morphing into its glorious self.

Ingredients

1 c butter
1 1/2 c packed dark brown sugar (NOT THE LIGHT BROWN, believe me.)
2 large eggs
1 T vanilla (not little t, big T, big vanilla flavor)
3 c flour
1 heaping t baking soda
1/4 t cinnamon
1 heaping 1/2 t salt (extra to sprinkle on top should you desire)
an entire package of chocolate chips (about 2 cups)

So here it goes, this is my easy peasy chocolate chip cookie recipe. There is no dietary fiber in these, no extras, just straight up chocolate chip cookie goodness. Preheat your oven first, 375 degrees. You do this first before getting out any ingredients because making the dough literally takes minutes. You can make the dough in the time it takes to preheat an oven. Mind, blown. I love efficency!

Line your cookies sheets and assemble your ingredients. Cream room temp butter and brown sugar with a mixer, I use a paddle attachment. Add in your eggs one at a time on low speed. Next add in vanilla. Ensure these four ingredients are combined then shut off the mixer. Add 3 cups of flour then the baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, turn on the mixer and mix until the dry ingredients are just completely incorporated. Finally add the chocolate chips and mix until just combined.

Don’t over mix this dough. It takes minutes to make the dough, don’t waste your time. This dough should stick to itself, not the bowl. It does not need to be chilled, you can bake it right away. Scoop onto lined cookie sheets (I sprinkle with a tiny pinch of sea salt) and bake at 375 for 10 minutes. I bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven, no turning or rotating. I cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before I transfer them to a wire rack. This recipe typically makes between 25-35 cookies depending on how big you scoop your cookies. I like medium sized cookies.