Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe…Ever

Since moving into my own home, with my own kitchen, I have turned into quite the baker. But one of the most simple recipes a baker should always have on hand is a nice Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. And I probably tried at least a dozen different ones, and I couldn’t find any that I liked. And then I came across this one! No matter what I do, I can’t seem to burn the cookies. Every time they come out crisp on the edges and gooey in the center. Not kidding! I even rolled up a huge ball of dough, plopped it right in the center of the pan, and it cooked perfectly (it was for a friend’s birthday who didn’t like cake)! Crisp on the edges and gooey in the middle, not burnt at all. I was impressed. So without further ado..here is the recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed, add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute.
• Add flower to mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Drop heaping tablespoon-sized balls of dough about 2 inches apart and baking sheets lines with parchment paper.

Bake until cookies are golden-brown around the edges, but still soft in the center, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to wire rack , and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

And then you have yummy cookies!

One suggestion: At first I ignored the “drop HEAPING piles of dough” part and just used my cookie scoop. And they were sort of small. So I did a scoop and a half and they came out normal sized!

Well I hope this is your new favorite cookie recipe. And if it turns out to be one of the dozen that didn’t work out for you, I’m sorry. And don’t loose hope! There is a nice chocolate chip cookie recipe waiting out there just for you 🙂

Have a lovely Friday,

xox, Jenna

Mason Jar Lovin’

I’m OBSESSED with Mason Jars. They are so cute, and have a million and one uses.
And I have found yet another cute use!
I was doing my weekly thrift shopping and found a mason jar kit.
It came with: 2 mason jars, 2 ribbons, 2 blank recipe cards, to wooden hearts to attach to the string, and 2 circle pieces of fabric.

I have seen this idea before, but the whole concept is to layer ingredients to 1. display cutely, and 2. have the ingredients pre-measured and mixed for fast cooking!

For mine, I did the best ever chocolate chip cookie recipe (which I will share after because it has been a long search and I finally found a good one).

So cute! I love it. And although my layers aren’t perfect straight like all of the examples, I still like it.
Note: If you are going to do this, make sure to always start with the soft stuff on bottom and the chunky stuff on top. The bottom layer of mine is the flour, salt, and baking powder needed. Then I did the brown sugar, to help separate so when I do make the cookies, I can separate as need like in the recipe.

And In the end,  I used the ribbon and fabric that came with the kit.
Not bad for $1.79 at the thrift store, huh?

Whole Wheat Banana Pecan Waffles

My husband and I have been trying to find alternative healthy breakfasts other than the regular oatmeal, eggs, and fruit. And we stumbled upon this recipe in a Zen Buddhist Monestary recipe book (no we are not Buddhist followers, it was just a cheap vegetarian recipe book on Amazon). And we love it!

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup pecans or walnuts
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups low-fat buttermilk
3/4 cup mashed ripe banana
3 large eggs
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted or unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Steps:
1. Turn on and coat waffle iron with butter spray
2. Combine the flour, pecans or walnuts, baking powder, baking soda, and salt thoroughly in large bowl. Whisk together the buttermilk, bananas, eggs, honey, butter or applesauce, and vanilla in medium bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just evenly blended.
3. Cook waffles accordingly to your iron, and serve warm!

Very simple, and very delicious. Of course you can skip on the nuts altogether or use white flour if you prefer. When making these myself, I was very skeptical about using applesauce in place of the butter. I thought it would give it a weird texture and a funky taste. But I went ahead and used the applesauce, and I am so glad that I did! There was literally no taste difference or texture difference in the waffles what-so-ever. And by substituting the butter, it made this morning meal even healthier. I hope you try it and love it just as much as I did!