C is for COOOOOOKIE. (And Cal.)

One day while sitting on the couch my junior year, watching a Sex in the City marathon (I had never watched it before moving in and my roommates told me I couldn't keep living with them unless I saw every single episode) I declared, "I'm making chocolate chip cookies."
Nikki said, "Will you buy the Pillsbury dough? That's my favorite kind."

I looked at her like she was crazy. Never in my life had I bought slice-n-bake cookie dough. "Umm, I'm making them from scratch." It was her turn to look at me like I was the crazy one.

Then Collete piped in, "But how are you going to do that? We don't have a mixer."

"Seriously?" I asked. "I'm going to use a spoon and mix it by hand."

Clearly the only two ways to produce chocolate chip cookies are 1) to buy pre-made dough or 2) to use a KitchenAid. Signs of our time...

Anyway, what made me think of this story is the fact that this weekend I made some of Sara's Killer Chocolate Chip Cookies and they were AMAZING. And I still don't have a KitchenAid so I mixed them by hand. [Sigh.] FYI the picture is not of the cookies I made but they are a batch that Sara herself whipped up.

Speaking of Sara, that girl is a lot of things including amazing, sweet, pretty, AND a rockin' cook. Not only does she hold down the fort on her own blog, Sweet Somethings, she is also a regular writer at the cooking blog From Blah to Ta-Daa AND sells the most adorable cupcake pops in the entire world on Etsy. Ok, enough bragging about my friend...I'll just give you her recipe:

Detailed recipe with lots of great baking tips can be found here. Shortened version included below for you lazy folks.

Sara's Killer Chocolate Chip Cookies

¾ c. butter flavor shortening                          1 ¾ c. flour

1 ¼ c. brown sugar                                       1 tsp. Salt

2 Tbsp. Milk                                                ¾ tsp. Baking soda

1 Tbsp. Vanilla                                             1 c. chocolate chips

1 egg                                                            1 c. nuts, if desired

Combine shortening and brown sugar.  Add milk, vanilla and egg.  Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl.  Add flour mixture to shortening mixture, a little at a time.  (dough should not stick to a light touch of your finger)  Add chocolate chips.  Bake on greased cookie sheet at 375^o for 8-9 minutes, or until golden.  (Note:  To keep cookies from turning out “flat,” subtract about 1 Tbsp of the shortening. Also, you can use almond or soy milk to make them lactose free!)