Chocolate Chip Cookies

As a staple treat for most people during their childhood and throughout life as an adult, chocolate chip cookies are the perfect treat and so easy to make. They are such a great comfort food and appropriate, not to mention accepted, on every occasion. For the inexperienced baker, I would definitely suggest giving this recipe a try.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

2 c Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

3/4 c Butter, Softened

1 c Brown Sugar

1/2 c White Sugar

1 tbl Vanilla

1 Egg

1 Egg Yolk

1 c Chocolate Chips

1 c Walnuts

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Sift together Flour, Baking Soda, and Salt and set aside.

2. Cream together the Butter, Brown Sugar, and White Sugar until completely smooth. Add Vanilla and Egg. Add the second Egg Yolk and beat well.

3. Mix in sifted ingredients just until blended. Add Chocolate Chips and Walnuts until all the ingredients are well integrated.

4. Drop by the spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake in pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes or until they start to brown.

These chocolate chip cookies are just too good. They bake up beautifully due to the extra egg yolk and brown perfectly thanks to the brown sugar. I have been experimenting with different cookie recipes, such as this one, for a long time now. Mostly my goal is to be able to bake a great cookie with less butter and sugar and without compromising too much texture or flavor. After many, many tries, I have discovered a few secrets worth giving a shot.

First, replace some of the butter with apple sauce. I usually do about half of what the recipe calls for. This changes little in terms of flavor and all it does to the cookie's texture is make it a bit more cakey.

Second, I usually cut back the sugar a bit. It is important to note that sugar is responsible for the crusty outside that cookies have. Taking about 1/2 a cup out of a recipe like this one will eliminate a lot of sugary calories and have little effect on the flavor.

Last but not least, the easiest way to add a bit of nutrition to a cookie is to put things instead of trying to take things out. Adding some ground flaxseed adds some Omega-3, oatmeal offers a bit of insoluble fiber, or even some grated apples for some fruity vitamins.

Whether you choose to make the changes or keep the recipe the same, you can't go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie!