Cookie Time - simple and basic

Nothing says comfort to me like a chocolate chip cookie.  I've tried many - soft, chewy, crispy, with nuts, without, with oats, with peanut butter...you get it.  Nothing satisfies me like the King Arthur Flour chocolate chip cookie.  It's perfection.  It's chewy but not gooey. It's crispy but not crumbly.  It's simple..batter and chocolate chips.


I am beginning a project and felt the need for comfort and felt the need to pamper myself and what better way to spend a lazy Sunday than baking and eating chocolate chip cookies?


I am reading a great book of daily practices called Simple Abundance and this month's focus is food - more specifically, today's focus is comfort food.  What other food can invoke childhood and adult memories like the chocolate chip cookie?


Here's the recipe and a few pictures of the finished comfort food product.  Enjoy!

• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed


• 2/3 cup granulated sugar


• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, right from the fridge, or at room temperature


• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract


• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract


• 1 teaspoon vinegar, cider or white


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1 large egg


• 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour


• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

1) In a large bowl, combine the sugars, butter, shortening, salt, vanilla and almond extracts, vinegar, and baking soda, beating until smooth and creamy.

2) Beat in the egg, again beating till smooth. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure everything is thoroughly combined.

3) Mix in the flour, then the chips.

4) Use a spoon (or a tablespoon cookie scoop) to scoop 1 1/4" balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2" between them on all sides; they'll spread.

5) Bake the cookies for 11 to 12 minutes, till their edges are chestnut brown and their tops are light golden brown, almost blonde. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan till they've set enough to move without breaking. Repeat with the remaining dough.

These cookies were a wonderful treat for a tired and weary soul...