Crowd-Pleasing Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Makes 2–3 dozen)

I have taken these cookies to events since I was a child, and I always get the comment, “These are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had!” Even as a kid, I could easily make these cookies, so they are they are both delicious and simple. Be warned: you won’t want to stop eating these yummies and neither will your guests. Enjoy!

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/3 cup shortening

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

3 cups white flour, unsifted

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit or to 190 degrees Celsius.

Add butter, shortening, sugar, and vanilla into a large mixing bowl. Butter should not be melted, but softened. Refer to the notes section at the end of this recipe for tips to make your butter just right for this recipe.

Use a spoon, whisk, or beater to cream the butter, shortening, sugar, and vanilla. You will know that you have successfully creamed the ingredients when there are no chunks of butter in the mixture.

Crack two eggs on the side of the bowl or on a counter, and add the the egg (the yoke and the egg whites) to the ingredients in the mixing bowl. Mix.

Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt) to the large mixing bowl and stir until all the ingredients are evenly mixed.

Open a bag of chocolate chips, and add two cups or the desired amount into the large mixing bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips. The chocolate chips should remain whole.

Use a spoon to scoop a heaping spoonful of cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Each ball of dough should be placed an inch or two apart. Place 9–12 balls of cookie dough on the cookie sheet. Do not flatten the balls of dough.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven on the top rack. Placing the cookie sheet on the bottom rack will unevenly bake the cookies, making the bottom too crisp. Bake the cookies for 8–10 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Using a hot pad or an oven mitt, remove the cookie sheet from the oven. Use a metal spatula to immediately take the cookies off the cookie sheet.

Put the cookies on a cooling rack. Enjoy the cookies once they have sufficiently cooled.

This cookie calls for both butter and shortening. I suspect this is the key for why they are so delicious. The original recipe calls for ½ cup of butter or margarine and ½ cup of shortening. However, because of the higher altitude in Provo, Utah, I use less butter and shortening. Depending on your specific oven, you may have to adjust you butter and shortening or your flour amounts accordingly. If you use too much butter, the cookies will turn out flat. Also, use white flour, not wheat flour. The texture gets funky with wheat flour.

The recipe calls for softened butter, but do not melt the butter: this will also result in flat cookies. The butter is best prepared by pulling it out of the fridge about thirty to sixty minutes before you intend to use it. However, if you forget, you can use the cold butter; you just might spend some extra time creaming it with the other ingredients to assure that there are no small bits of butter. If you do not have a beater that makes completely mixing in the cold butter possible, consider putting your microwave on medium or low power, and microwaving the butter on that setting for five to ten seconds.

This dough can be rolled into balls and stored in the freezer. After step seven (7) of the recipe, use a spoon to scoop a heaping spoonful of cookie dough. Roll the dough into a ball and place in a freezer-safe container (Ziploc freezer bag or tupperware). Repeat the rolling process until you have rolled all of your cookie dough into balls and placed them in your container. Seal and freeze. This cookie dough should stay good in the freezer for up to three months (though you’ll likely use it before then!).

1. Follow a recipe or instructions on a brownie mix box to make a batch of brownie batter.

2. After making the brownie batter, add the cookie dough to the brownie batter.

3. Mix well to ensure that the dough and the batter are evenly blended.

4. Pour the mixed batter into a well-greased 9x13 pan.

5. Place the pan on the top rack of the oven and let the brookie bake for 8-10 minutes.

6. Remove the brookie from the oven, using an oven mitt, once it has finished baking.

7. Leave the brookie in the pan and place it on a cooling rack.

8. Enjoy when completely cool.

1. After you have prepared the cookie dough, shape the cookies into a rectangular shape on the baking pan.

2. Bake the cookies as directed.

3. Remove the cookies from oven using an oven mitt and transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool for thirty to sixty minutes.

4. Place the cooled cookies in an airtight container and freeze them for at least an hour.

5. Remove an even number of cookies from the container after one hour.

6. Flip one cookie upside down and place a scoop of ice cream in the middle of the cookie.

7. Place the bottom side of another cookie on top of the ice cream to create your sandwich.

1. Prepare and bake the cookies as directed.

2. Prepare the chocolate bars while the cookies are baking: take them out of their packaging and break them into individual rectangles.

3. Remove the cookies from the oven using an oven mitt, and place them on a cooling rack using a spatula. Do not turn off the oven yet.

4. Allow the cookies to cool about halfway. You will want some heat from the cookie in order to melt your chocolate bar.

5. Place twelve marshmallows on the baking sheet while the cookies are cooling.

6. Place the cookie sheet in the oven for fifteen to thirty seconds or until the marshmallows are golden brown (make sure to watch the marshmallows very closely! They can burn very quickly!)

7. Take the cookie sheet with the marshmallows on it out of the oven using an oven mitt.

8. Turn one side of a cookie upside down and place a toasted marshmallow on the cookie.

9. Place a small rectangle of chocolate on the marshmallow.

10. Place another cookie on top of the chocolate bar, allowing the chocolate to melt from the top and the bottom.