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.