Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

A variation on my mother's recipe — half butter, half shortening for the best of both textures, mixed in about 5 minutes.

Prep5 min

Oven375°F

CourseDessert

Ingredients

• 1 cube (½ cup / 8 tablespoons) butter
• 4 oz Crisco (or other shortening)
• ¾ cup brown sugar (I use dark, but whatever you have)
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2¼ cups flour (this measurement needs to be accurate)
• 1 to 1½ cups chocolate chips (I prefer semi-sweet — my mom uses half milk, half semi-sweet)
• ¾ cup chopped nuts, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. With electric beaters, cream together the butter, Crisco, brown sugar, white sugar, and eggs until very creamy.
3. Add the salt, baking soda, and vanilla and cream together very well.
4. Mix in the flour, followed by the chocolate chips (and nuts if using).
5. Drop the dough by spoonfuls onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet (or directly onto an ungreased pan — don't grease it).
6. Bake at 375°F until done.

Why half-and-half fat: All butter and the cookies taste a little odd and feel greasy. All shortening and they come out crispier than I like. The 50/50 split lands in the sweet spot. If you do prefer crispy cookies, drop the butter and go all-shortening (Crisco, palm, or coconut all work).

Parchment paper trick: Cut or tear parchment to fit the pan and bake directly on it. Two wins: the cookies never stick (no greasing needed), and cleanup is just letting the pan cool and throwing the paper away — the pan stays clean.

Flour measurement: The 2¼ cups is the one ingredient where you need to be exact — too much and the cookies get cakey, too little and they spread thin.

By William Bayne, adapted from my mother's recipe.