Katie's Chocolate Chip Cookies

BEST OF THE TASTY CHEAPSKATE

This week I officially launched a very short collection of essays about my mother entitled, Hugging Death: Essays on Motherhood and Saying Goodbye. For the next couple days, it will be $.99 for the Kindle version on Amazon. So hop on over and buy it. It's mostly about my mother's struggle with, and then death from, cancer. As such, it's a little bittersweet with, I think, the sweet winning out over the bitter. If you're interested (and I truly hope you are), you can find the link HERE.

I miss my mom. On the last visit my siblings and I had with her, I remember that when her home health nurse came to check her out, she was joking with mom (who could barely talk at this point due to her brain tumor) about food and dieting. "Well," the nurse said, "the good news is that now you can eat as many cookies as you want." You know when a nurse tells you it's a great idea to eat as many cookies as you want that things are kind of winding down for you life on this earth. But guess what? My sister made cookies. And we ate them with Mom with gusto. I hadn't had them for many years. And they were just, well, perfect. Or as perfect as it gets when life throws you something utterly imperfect.

Below the recipe, you'll find my original post about these cookies. Eat them, love them, don't get cancer if you can help it. But if you do get cancer, then eat them with some people you love.

Katie's Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes 24
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes per batch
Cost: $3.60
butter: .55, shortening: .10, sugar: .15, brown sugar: .35, eggs: .20, flour: .45, chocolate chips: 1.80

1/2 C (1 stick butter), just barely softened
1/2 C shortening
1 C white sugar
1 C brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 C chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine butter and shortening. I like to mix mine with a spoon, but a mixer will work too. Add sugars and mix well. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Add dry ingredients and mix into wetter ingredients until all in combined. Add chocolate chips and mix. If you have the time, let your cookies rest for 15 minutes or so.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until just beginning to brown (Note: The edges and perhaps a rouge spot on the top of some of the cookies should be just barely beginning to brown. Learning when to take these cookies out is half the batter. Remember they'll continue to cook after you take them out, so don't wait too long to take them out.)

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Hugging Death: Essays on Motherhood and Saying Goodbye

ORIGINAL POST

I think I have found my soul cookie. That's right. If you're a regular follower of this blog, you may pass out from the shockingness of this announcement (though, frankly, if your life and heart revolve so closely around my cookie infidelities, perhaps you need to find a hobby of some sort, or part time work, or maybe introduce yourself to reality TV; I don't know; something). Anyway, I've had some trouble committing to a chocolate chip recipe. I've got several on here and they're all good. I even have another with cinnamon that I've been meaning to add but haven't gotten to yet. But this, this--I think--is it.

The funny thing is that this is a cookie I've known for a long long time. In fact, it's the first chocolate chip cookie I ever really met. It was the cookie of my childhood and young adulthood.

So, why, you may be asking, did I ever leave such monogamous bliss. Well, this cookie contains something I don't generally stock in my pantry, something I have self-righteous feelings towards, something that is touted as evil by pretty much everyone in the health field (and we all know that we eat chocolate chip cookies to be healthy, right). It contains shortening. Generally speaking, unless you're going to be making emergency candles from it, I really really don't like shortening. Oh, there are exceptions to be sure. But usually if I can find a recipe without shortening, that is the one I will use. As I grew into cooking, this is how I felt about all my baked goods. I still feel that way about most of my baked goods. Seriously, don't even start putting shortening in your cakes or I might throw up in my mouth. But cookies with shortening I've always been a little more lenient towards. Maybe it's because I grew up with my mom and sister making such cookies. Maybe it's because I've always known that Katie's cookies have been some of the best. Shortening keeps cookies soft and chewy longer than using all butter does. And it often can keep your cookies from going flat if that's a problem you have with your cookies. It adds density to cookies without making them bricks. It adds body to cookies without making them airy or cakey. But it's definitely not as flavorful as butter and if you use all shortening (as opposed to part shortening, part butter), your cookies will not turn golden as I believe all the best chocolate chip cookies ought to.

However, when my siblings and I were hanging out with Mom in her very last few days with us all together, my sister Katie made her famous cookies. They were insanely good, and she was sitting there complaining that they weren't as good as usual. They were dense and chewy, but had that lovely just barely crispy edgy part that gives you something to bite into. They use half butter and, as such, are still very flavorful and get a lovely brown edge. They were just perfect, and as I sat there eating more than I intended to, I realized that I'd been living in denial for a very long time. Cookies with all butter are very good. Some of them even divinely good. Every cookie on this site is incredible. But these, these were better than the rest.Miraculously, some of these cookies made it to the next day. They were insanely good too. In fact, they were nearly as good as they'd been the first day.

I came home and bought my first tub of shortening in years. And then I made Katie's cookies. And they weren't good. They looked like Kip's cookies (Kip's are not quite as dense or thick as Katie's), but tasted worse. It was a sad day. I was about to chalk it up to being one of those things that only people with the cookie gift can manage, but first I called my sister and asked a few questions about her method. Kip and I nearly always melt or significantly soften the butter. Katie does not. So I made them again with barely softened butter and I'll be geewhizzed if they didn't turn out perfect in every way. Then I made a batch of all-butter cookies just to be sure. Then, just to be extra fair and extra sure, I made a batch of all-butter cookies and didn't melt the butter. Nope. Katie's still won hands down. My son Mark accused me of betraying Kip's cookies (yes, 'betray' is the word he used) and I'm just going to have to live with that because these are the best there is.

(From left to right: Katie's cookie, Kip's with melted butter, Kip's with softened butter. And yes, that middle one did need more chocolate chips, but still, the cookie batter couldn't quite hold its own.)

So, while I still don't embrace shortening in the way that our mothers and grandmothers of the '50s did, I'm going to allow it this little place in my life. Although there is one caveat: The all-butter dough is way better. If you plan to use the dough in something like ice cream or just to eat it shamelessly in blobs out of the refrigerator, then go for the all butter.

(Katie's cookie batter was slightly crumblier and less flavorful than the all butter. It's pictured bottom right.)

If however, you plan to make the best cookies of your life, buy yourself some shortening, take a deep breath, and remind yourself that cookies weren't meant to be a health food anyway. Happy eating.

Best Ever Crepes

So it's easy to lump crepes into the class of evil foods (right along with chocolate cake and their ilk). This is mostly because I (and every other normal American human) think it's not really a crepe unless it's slathered in Nutella and dipped in whipped cream. This, of course, is a perfectly acceptable way to eat a crepe. However, there are (gasp) other ways. And they, too, are delicious. And sometimes even (double gasp) nutritious.

For this crepe, I used a good dollop of ricotta and a bit of peach butter, and--not to brag or anything--but it was perfectly divine. The ricotta gave it a creamy feeling while contributing protein and calcium instead of just fat and sugar (sorry whipped cream; you know I love yo anyway). The peach butter was lightly sweet. And the crepe itself is higher in protein than a normal pancake or muffin. And we use just a smidgen of whole grains in ours to help it along the path of virtue.

It makes for an inexpensive breakfast and a downright tightwad dinner. The crepes themselves run about $.10/crepe and I cannot eat more than two if they're filled (if not, all bets are off). And the fillings don't have to be expensive. A few tablespoons of ricotta add another $.25 and the peach butter is probably just $.10 (plus a lot of love to make that stuff). That's a solid meal for $.50 (though it is missing vegetables...)

(Psst. Want homemade recipes for either of these. Look HERE for a perfectly divine (and utterly cheap) ricotta. And HERE for peach butter so good you know it's made from love and sunshine (which it is).)

Have a look HERE for my original post on crepes plus a filling of brown sugar peaches. (Plus a pretty profound poem if I do say so myself; I mean, you won't want to miss it.)
Or HERE for a pumpkin whole wheat version.

Best Ever Crepes
Makes: a booty load (I'm guessing it makes between 20-30 crepes; we always have leftovers)
Prep and cook time: 30 minutes
Cost: $2.05 (that's about $.10/serving; even if you do splurge on Nutella, that's a VERY cheap meal)
(eggs: .50, milk: .60, flour: .30, other stuff: .15, butter: .50)

Note: These directions are given to you as Maren gave them to me. I always make mine this way with an extra cup of milk added at the end. Would it matter if you added it at the beginning? I don't know. I just do it as she said because hers were the best and I don't mess with that.

Whisk together:
4 eggs
3 C milk

Combine:
2 Tbsp sugar
3 C flour (I use 1/2 C whole wheat and 2 1/2 C all-purpose)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Add dry mixture to egg/milk mixture.

To this batter, add:
1 C milk
1 tsp vanilla

Whisk it all together. It might be a little lumpy at first, but whisk for a minute or two and most will go away. If you still have some lumps when you make the crepes, don't worry, the crepes will still come out just fine.

Heat skillet to medium or just below. Plop a pat of butter on the skillet. You want your skillet nice and non-sticky--whether that happens with plenty of butter or with a good non-stick pan is up to you. Pour the batter onto the skillet and tilt the skillet so that the entire face of the skillet is covered with a thin layer of batter. It won't be thick like a pancake, or even close. It'll look like this:

Now you're going to let the crepe cook until there it's kind of cooked all the way through--there won't be any (or much) raw batter-y patches left and it will be just barely golden brown on the bottom (it takes 1-2 minutes usually). If it's not done enough you'll have a really really hard time flipping this baby. At this point you'll flip it over to give the other side a chance to color just a bit. I think that authentic French crepe makers don't always even flip theirs, but I like to.

Continue this process until you're done. If you've got too much batter, you can save it as batter or you can make it all into crepes. They reheat very well.

Note: Your first crepe will probably be a disaster. I don't know why this is a law of the universe, but it is. I suspect that your pan is still warming up and stuff. Anyway, if your first crepe tears and crumples and looks a mess, do not despair. Set it aside for the baby or the dog, re-butter your pan and do it again. I promise that the next will (almost surely) be much much better. If it discourages you too much, dip some in Nutella and eat it. That should make you feel much better about the world.

Another note: If, however, your crepe is burned on the bottom, turn down the heat and wait a couple minutes before continuing.

Continue making and flipping until you have crepes coming out of you ears. 

Then eat. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Peanut Butter Cream Eggs

BEST OF THE TASTY CHEAPSKATE

Sometimes I drop the tasty cheapskate ball. When I do, it's usually about pictures.

This week my sister was here with her four kids. She brought me a gorgeous peanut butter cream egg. Do I have a picture?

No.

Then Wednesday, while I made dinner, she and several of the kids proceeded to make and then decorate approximately 10 million more peanut butter cream eggs. They were so beautiful--an army of spring calorie bombs marching along the table. Did I get a picture of that?

Nope.

So today after my sister left (and I took myself a luxurious couch nap because Bec and I had stayed up till after midnight every single night because we are masochists). Anyway, after that, I scrounged around for a single solitary egg to photograph. My youngest daughter had one that I snagged, and then another daughter came out about to eat hers and I stole it too. That's all we had.

The moral of this story: Make these. They're not hard. They make great gifts, look beautiful in Easter baskets, and are a big crowd favorite. You'll be lucky to have a couple left at the end of the day.

Peanut Butter Cream Eggs
Makes about 30 1 1/2 inch long eggs
Prep time: 30-40 minutes, but there's some wait time while things harden/set.
Cost: $3.05 and if you flavor it with coconut, peanut butter, or chocolate that will add another $.50-1.00
(sugar: .60, butter: .40, chocolate: 2.00, other: .05)

1/3 C butter, significantly softened 
1/2 C peanut butter (crunchy or creamy depending on your preference; you can also use Nutella in place of the peanut butter if you want to go with more chocolate)
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tbsp milk (or cream, if you're a stickler about keeping the 'cream' in your butter cream--I used milk and it was very good)
1/2 tsp salt
2-4 C powdered sugar
1 bag (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips (or melting chocolate or white chocolate or whatever shivers your timbers)

Soften/Melt butter. Add peanut butter, then vanilla, then milk. Add salt and powdered sugar. Mix by hand. It will turn into a thick mixture. I like mine a little  softer (because dry PB eggs are the worst), but having it a little thicker makes it easier to work with. Just add the powdered sugar bit by bit at the end. You need to be able to roll it into a ball. 

Refrigerate the filling, and then when it's firm, roll it into egg-shaped balls. 



When it is rolled, melt your chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals. (Note: If using real chocolate, melt until a few chunks remain and then stir until those are melted. This will keep it from getting that white swirly-old-chocolate the next day.) 

You can use nice chocolate (my preference) or melting chocolates. Melting chocolates do not taste NEARLY as good, but they are delightfully easy to melt; they harden quickly, and they re-melt beautifully, and they don't ever get the white swirly-old-chocolate look. We opted for real chocolate on the overall egg and melting chocolate for the swirly parts. 

When the chocolate is melted, dip the eggs. You can use a slotted spoon, or you can blob and drizzle it in a completely messy, but finger lickin' good kind of way. 



Allow chocolate to harden, then decorate if you wish. If you'd like to give them away, you can put them in little muffin liners or bon bon liners (depending on size). Then put them in a small plastic gift bag. My sister did this and it looked like it had been bought from a store. Ours never quite hit that level. 

Note: I have instructions for other flavors (plain butter cream, chocolate, and coconut) on another post. Feel free to hop on over HERE if you'd like.