Chocolate Chip Champ

Well, my oven was fixed, and I was looking to celebrate. I ‘ve been relying on my grill to pick up the slack; and I have to admit, it even makes a decent pizza with a few modifications. But there is one thing I’ve been craving that I’m sure it can’t do: deliver those chewy, chocolate-y, divinely fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies.

And so it was time to fire up the oven and get those babies going. As I did, I reflected on my trusty old recipe…I obtained it almost 17 years ago (yeah, I’m that old), and it’s never let me down. No matter what oven I was working with in the 6 places we’ve lived in since then, they’ve always come out chewy, yet slightly crisp on the outside; never flat, they always had a slight rise in the middle-and yet never airy or cake-y (I HATE chocolate chip cookies that are cakey, crunchy all the way through, or made without brown sugar. So if you’re a fan of any of these, you might want to leave until this blows over and check out the site tomorrow instead). Some of the steps I take in the baking process helps to insure their success (like making sure the butter is creamed, yet not overworked and beginning to melt, or giving the pan a turn halfway through baking), but I firmly believe it’s the recipe itself that does the rest. So, where, you may ask, did I get such a fabulous recipe? Well, here’s the crazy part: it was clipped from the back of a bag of ShopRite chocolate chips.

So, just in case ShopRite has changed the recipe on the back of their bag after all these years, I’m sharing it here. No one should ever have to eat inferior chocolate chip cookies. Enjoy!

Good Ol’ ShopRite Chocolate Chip C0ookies

1 cup softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed firmly

2 eggs

2 1/3 cups unsifted flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a mixer, beat butter briefly, then add sugars, eggs, and vanilla till creamy. In another bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda-stir well until thoroughly combined. With the mixer running, add 1/3 of the flour mixture at a time until all of it is incorporated and a dough is formed. Shut off mixer and stir in chocolate chips. Drop about a tablespoonful at a time on an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space between them. Bake about 10 minutes, until cookies are lightly browned, but still slightly soft to the touch in the middle. Cool on the sheet for about 5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish. Makes about 2 to 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

About Lisa Howard-Fusco

Lisa is John's partner-in-crime in all things (including this website), and a freelance writer. She now finds it safer to use her 10 years of New York publishing and film experience to yammer on about her culinary obsessions, instead of accosting people on street corners. Her articles and reviews have appeared in publications such as the South Jersey Magazine and Edible Jersey, as well as several websites. Her early journey into foodie-dom began in her grandmother's kitchen, rolling meatballs at the tender age of two. By the age of six, she was happily consuming eel and clams while other kids whined for mac and cheese. At ten, she asked to celebrate her birthday in an upscale restaurant. In college, she further complicated matters by becoming a sometimes-belligerent craft brew fan. Although she has mellowed with age, Lisa has been known to commit acts of violence when everyone assumes the homebrew was made by John. When not writing or wrangling their two adorable children, she is on an eternal quest for a quiet room to lock herself in, just for 5 minutes. Lisa's great hope is to someday master the art of cooking okra.