Problem Solving
Today I had a few extra minutes. Well, I never truly have a few extra minutes. Today I decided to make free time and bake some chocolate chip cookies. I have been lazy about baking sweets to enjoy. No, I’ve really been too busy to bake. Yes, that’s it – I’ve not made time to savor the smell of fresh-baked cookies right out of the oven in far too long. Well, I solved that problem today. Mr. Floyd says, “bee keeping is nothin’ but problem solving”. I’ve done so much bee keeping as of late that I’m feeling pretty good at this problem solving thing.
A problem I’ve tried to solve for some time is exactly how my mother-in-law was able to make her chocolate chips cookies come out the way they did. I know she liked to use Crisco, which I’ve always deemed a non-food. What exactly is that stuff made of? Yeah, don’t answer that. Her cookies were puffy, crunchy outside and melted in your mouth. They tasted best on the first day or two after baking, while the inside stayed soft and the outside stayed crisp. They always looked like little mounds – not round flat cookies. They held up well dunked in a cold glass of milk too. Just how much Crisco did she use?
Until I get my hands on her recipe, which I think resides in Colorado, I’ve tried on occasion to duplicate them. I’ve tried one recipe which uses a combo of butter and Crisco which is very tasty and similar to hers but not identical. I’ve used all butter which is not at all like her cookies, which my girls and hubby absolutely loved. Today there was not enough time to wait for the butter to soften so I used all Crisco. Ackkkkk…I can’t believe I just told you that! It’s almost embarrassing except for the small fact that they taste pretty good. I used the butter flavor and for the life of me I can’t even remember why that stuff was hanging out in my cabinet.
These cookies are soft and flavorful, even buttery tasting . They look inviting, not too flat, and smelled great in the oven. They taste just fine with a cold glass of milk, trust me I know! The dilemma of turning out a cookie just like my mother-in-laws is still looming as these did not quite reach the bar she set.
Following is the recipe which I found on Cooks.com and altered slightly. I’ll keep trying to match her greatness at turning out what my family deems the perfect chocolate chip cookie. If the worst part of solving this problem is being forced to taste test multiple cookies to find the perfect one – well, I’m not going to complain. My family will back me on that one. The best part of this recipe is I don’t have Crisco hanging out in my cabinet anymore – how did that ever get there?
While you’re noshing on cookies check out my newest page, “Road Food”, at the top of the blog. This is a page you’ll want to check often as you never know what visual amusements await you.
Enjoy!
Crisco Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter flavor Crisco
1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp. milk
1 tbsp. vanilla ( I use Mexican)
1 egg
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Heat oven to 350* Cream butter flavor Crisco, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. Blend until creamy. Beat in egg.
Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture, gradually mixing well after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips.
Bake for 10 minutes – place on racks to cool.
So very tempting for a guy trying to knock off some pounds before a nice trip. Also to help with his bad back………….
All things in moderation!
On the subject of these mother-in-law cookies. One year before going up to elk camp father-in-law ask mother-in-law to make these cookies to take up with us. I’m not a big fan of chocolate chip cookies, but eat them all the same. When we get to camp this huge bag of cookies sits in the camper and we dont eat them the first day. As a quick snack on the run I grabbed a hand full and out the door I went…. OMG in the mountains, hungry, and the best cc cookie ever what a great memory. That must have been the first time I had one of these Midland cookies. Peggy makes them now, but complains that the altitude has spoiled the results of this famous cookie. Connor loves them more than anyone and can put back a half dozen before you can Jackie Robinson…
Ok
Ray
I might have to argue that Connor loves them more than Miss T or LuLu…probably a three way tie! Maaaybe I could get a copy of that recipe residing in Colorado to make for our snacking pleasure this summer in the mountains. 🙂
Sorry to be guard over the recipe vault. 😉 It’s the handwriting more than it’s contents I treasure most. I don’t even look at this one, guess I probably never have. Got it straight from the horse’s mouth when I was around 6 or 7 and has been a permanent fixture in my brain cells ever since. I always only make 1/2 recipe so double it || 6 Tblsp sugar, 6 Tblsp brown sugar, blend, cream in 1/2 cup good ole Crisco, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp soda, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 cup flour, chips. Think I was told (by the horse herself) that it’s just the recipe on the back of the Nestles chips bag but the romantic in me refuses to check to see if it’s true. Best when eaten before applying heat. (Don’t believe the worms story.) They don’t stay puffy but come out flat and turn hard quickly at altitude. I’ve tried several modifications and have gotten them a tad better but the best is to make tall narrow mounds of dough on the cookie sheet. If going to keep them a while, throw a piece of bread in the baggie with them. My favorite story was told by Mark when he and Opie were driving back to VA from CO one year and got hung up in a massive traffic jam somewhere 10-12 hours into the drive and after just sitting still for a bit both suddenly turned to each other, realizing the bag was somewhere in the back of the car, and yelled, “COOKIES!”, scrambling through dirty laundry and skis and boots until they uncovered them. He’s the one that told me the piece of bread works. 🙂
Thanks for sharing – I completely understand the handwriting thing!!!! No worries. Maybe I’ll bake some for Ouray and see how they hold up in transit.