Last night I got a craving (which does happen often).  I needed chocolate chip cookies, and not just any chocolate chip cookies. I guess you can say that I am perfecting my craft of cooking and baking. Growing up I wasn’t as interested in learning techniques from my mom, who is a phenomenal cook and baker. My sister on the other hand pked up the talent from our mom and ran with it. I learned over the years from both of them how to cook by using your imagination when you don’t have a recipe to follow. Lots of spaghetti squash, sauteed veggies, pasta dishes, and home made soups..lots of soups.

I inherited my sweet tooth from my dad, which means there was always something baked in my house growing up. Coffee cakes and cupcakes could often be found but it was typically “my mom’s” chocolate chip cookies that filled the air.

When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, there is one thing you need, and that is a package of Nestle Toll House semi-sweet morsels, not just for the chocolate chip aspect, but for the recipe on the back.

Here is the recipe you’ll need for these amazingly easy cookies!

Now, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. The recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House package is what I grew up with and it’s what I’ll use forever – it’s that good. Also, very thankful they include it on the package because a) you need chocolate chips for the cookies and b) you have the recipe right there!

So since I decided to have this craving at the last minute, I didn’t exactly have time to get my ingredients to room temperature before starting in. I actually had to thaw butter from the freezer because I had none in my fridge! My mom is a very pre-planned baker so if she knew that I froze butter or let alone microwaved it to soften it, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

So, after microwaving my butter to softened perfection, I put that in my Kitchenaid and mixed it with the sugar (brown and granulated) and vanilla extract until creamy. I then added my eggs and started spooning in the flour, baking soda, salt mixture. I really think I need to invest in one of those Kitchenaid guards for the bowl because I always end up with flour all over the place when it puffs back up! Or is that just me? 🙂

Next, I chopped up a cup of walnuts and stirred them into the dough with a bag of the chocolate chips. One thing I do that my mom taught me that isn’t mentioned on the package is I chill the dough overnight in the fridge and bake them off a few hours later or the next day. There is a scientific reason for it, but essentially it has to do with the fat in the butter hardening to make the cookies bake better, basically! That’s the hardest part, not immediately baking them, haha! You can of course bake them right away if you need/want to!

These cookies are so aromatic and make the house smell like a world class bakery. Once they come out of the oven, pop them on a cooling rack, pour a glass of milk and try not to eat the entire batch in one day, LOL!

Until next time! xxx