Cookies, cookies, and more cookies...

I am not a cookie hater...but I am not a cookie lover.  I am an In-Between Cookie-Liker.  (New word of the day:  In-Between-Cookie-Liker...I like that!)  Don't get me wrong, I do make a mean chocolate chip cookie and I think any flavor combination you think of can be put into a cookie.  It is just like a cupcake...ideas are endless.  So, today I set out to make Chocolate Chip cookies for my kids as well as the kids in the neighborhood.  I always make cookies for the first day of school...a tradition in my house...so today, for the last day of school before winter break...I made cookies.
Everyone has there go to recipe for their chocolate chip cookies as do I.  But as long as anyone can remember, I have yet to share my recipe.  I have perfected my recipe and am very proud of this recipe.  But, unfortunately, I will not share it today.  What I will share is tips on making cookies and common mistakes novice bakers make when baking cookies.  So, you may not get my recipe, but you will have the tips and know-how to create your own chocolate chip cookies.

Cookie Tips/Tricks:
1.  Please make sure the butter is a to room temperature.  Butter does not cream very well with your sugar if it is straight out of the refrigerator.  If the butter is too soft, you get one flat cookie.

2. Measure your flour out properly and no "eye-balling".  Too much flour causes cookies to be hard and unable to spread when baking.  Too little flour  causes cookies to be flat.

3.  Allow your cookie sheet to cool or have multiple cookie sheets available to use between batches.  Cookies come out flat because the dough is place on a hot cookie sheet.  The butter in the cookies melts and cause flat cookies.

4.  Remember, if you use self-rising flour, you must omit the baking soda and salt.  I prefer not to use self-rising flour so I can control the salt content.

5.  I always allow my cookies to rest on the baking sheet after coming out the oven for 1 minute, then I transfer them to a wire rack to cool and get slightly crispy.

6.  My last secret to a good chocolate chip cookies is to use a combination of semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips.  To me, this helps balance out the sweetness of the cookie and make it just right.

So, my advice for making a good cookie, such as chocolate chip cookies, is to start with a recipe and make it your own.  Add ingredients, omit ingredients, substitute an ingredient...and when you are all done...you will have you very own secret recipe like mine!

Moral:  Remember, you shouldn't tell secrets, but secrets should never be told!

My Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe will forever stay with me and in the bellies of all who eat them...