you know what you do on a rainy day?

you make chocolate chip cookies with someone you love. or for someone your love.
and maybe the person you love is yourself...and that's just great. i love myself so much i ate well over a half-dozen...and don't forget the dough. if i could have eaten that, it most certainly would have found it's way to my mouth. it is what it is.

so...one of the most important steps is to make sure you have an excellent kitchen assistant. it's a total bonus if they are cute.

even though i have two ridiculously cute people to choose from, i chose turtle.

i read once in a book that if you bake with your children often (what's often? i don't know.) from a young age they will have a healthier relationship with food...and learn about cooking/baking along the way.
i've been doing this with our gal ever since she was able to sit up. i get the mixer. she gets bowls and measuring spoons. she loves it.

i always let her help me measure anything that needs measured and she always gets to pour the ingredients into the mixture.

i also hope i'm teaching her patience, self-control, moderation, and general cooking/baking skills. we'll see how that all turns out.

while that's all important to me in my world...let's get to the recipe.
original recipe adapted from HERE
INGREDIENTS
  • *3 cups flour (i used whole wheat)
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • *2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter (soften...don't melt)
  • 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • *1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
*indicates changes made from original recipe

PREPARATION

1 | preheat your oven to 375 º and pull out your baking sheets. i use non-stick as well as far smaller cookies. i believe this led me to having to cook them for about half the time of what's called for in the original recipe. (she bakes her cookies on parchment or wax paper.)

2 | whisk together the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, salt in a medium sized bowl.
3 | cream your sugars and softened butter. go ahead and taste it. butter and sugar is delicious all day, err day. this will take about 2 minutes. you want it to look pale and fluff-tastic.

while that's taking place, lightly beat 1 egg with a fork in a bowl. add 1 3/4 tablespoons of that egg + 2 more whole eggs to your sugar mixture for an additional minute. beat in your vanilla!
4 | reduce the mixer speed to low and begin adding in the flour mixture about 1/2 cup at a time. do not over mix! 

5 | add in those glorious dark chocolate chips. eat a few. share some with your turtle. 
now your dough is ready. if you're not pregnant, go ahead and give that dough a taste. i can promise you it's 100% satisfactory. if you are pregnant...do not eat the dough. raw egg reminder. you wouldn't believe the self-control that was practiced in the making of these cookies. i ALWAYS eat the dough.
6 | you're ready to scoop your cookies! you can make giant cookies (like the original recipe) or you can make cute, turtle-sized cookies...like we did. 

scoop approximately 1 heaping tablespoon about 1 1/2 - 2 inches spaced until your baking sheet is full. my large sheet held 12 scoops. (mostly because i hate when my cookies bake together.)
bake your little chocolate-doughy morsels for about 7 - 8 minutes. pull from the oven and let cool for no longer than 24 seconds...and you're ready to enjoy a tasty treat with your very best gal...or whoever. or maybe just yourself. all of the above are perfectly acceptable and encouraged.