A taste of home

We all have that one taste from our childhood…. That one flavor, that once it hits your taste buds, you immediately go back in time. 

And when you need a taste of home, you know exactly what to make.

For me that’s my mom’s chocolate chip cookies. The exact taste; the smell when you walk in the front door, and then just the look of them…to me, it's so distinct that I can close my eyes and imagine them right now.  

 My mom and I have made these cookies so many times that we both can recite the recipe by heart. And we can whip up a batch and have them in the oven in less than 10 minutes.

When I am not at home, I have tried to re-create it time and time again….but I never get quite the same flavor as I get when I make them in the kitchen I grew up in.

It’s that taste you can’t get from the grocery store’s bakery section. You know, those “homemade” cookies in the plastic containers. Nope, they just won’t cut it. 

When all I want is my mom’s chocolate chip cookie, I don’t put my usual healthy spin on it by using whole-wheat flour or dark chocolate chips.

Not this time. Because sometimes, just the basics…a simple, chocolate chip cookie is the best.

     

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 stick (½ cup) margarine
• ½ cup Crisco
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 3/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-2 cups chocolate chips (or chocolate chunks)

- Blend together margarine and crisco. Add sugars.  Beat in eggs.  Add flour and rest of ingredients. 

- Bake at 375 degrees for about 9 minutes or until just about done, and let them finish cooling on the sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

- You can spread it on a pizza pan as well and it makes a great cookie pizza (you just need to bake it longer)

- If you don’t want to bake them all, roll the rest up in plastic wrap and freeze… the cookie dough is just as good!