Last week, a friend of mine commented about how these days, people are so busy worrying about their next move that they can’t enjoy the small things.
So tonight in honor of the gorgeous weather we’ve been having (and because when I was sitting out on my balcony earlier, someone was grilling and it smelled amazing) I took out my tiny, reminiscent George Foreman to make grilled veggies in a yummy London Broil marinade from the Food Network.
I skipped the London Broil part (not a big red meat eater) and marinated asparagus, zucchini and yellow summer squash, which I ate with crusty whole wheat Italian bread.
It took about seven rounds on the Foreman before all my veggies were cooked, but was well worth it for a good dinner (and tomorrow’s lunch!)
Shortly after the good dinner (that I was quite proud of myself for whipping up) when I went down to the laundry room to retrieve a long-forgotten about set of sheets that I’d thrown in this morning, I found the dryer in use by one of my neighbors, but my sheets and two hand towels folded neatly on top of the dryer.
Gone are the days of college where you’d find your laundry tossed on top of the machine in a tangled pile. I left a thank you note on the dry erase board in the room to express my appreciation.
Another thing you can do for someone to express appreciation is make these chocolate chip cookies. They’re my favorite go to recipe and I have no idea what the original source is, but you can modify them to make the recipe your own like I have.
- ¾ cup butter, softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips
- Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until blended.
- Combine flour, soda, and salt in a small bowl; gradually add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in morsels. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets.
- Bake at 350° for 8 to 14 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Remove to wire racks to cool completely
Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies: Decrease salt to 1/2 teaspoon. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter with butter and sugars. Increase flour to 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons. Proceed as directed. (Dough will look a little moist.)
Oatmeal-Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies: Reduce flour to 2 cups. Add 1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats to dry ingredients and 1 cup raisins with morsels. Proceed as directed.
Pecan-Chocolate Chip Cookies: Add 1 1/2 cups chopped, toasted pecans with morsels. Proceed as directed.
Almond-Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies: Reduce morsels to 1 cup. Add 1/2 cup slivered toasted almonds and 1 cup almond toffee bits. Proceed as directed.
Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies: Substitute 1 (12-ounce) package dark chocolate morsels for semisweet chocolate morsels. Proceed as directed.
Chunky Cherry-Double Chip Cookies: Microwave 1 tablespoon water and 1/2 cup dried cherries in a glass bowl at HIGH 30 seconds, stirring once. Let stand 10 minutes. Substitute 1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate chunks for morsels. Add 1 cup white chocolate morsels, 1/3 cup slivered toasted almonds, and cherries with chocolate chunks. Proceed as directed.
Coconut-Macadamia Chunk Cookies: Substitute 1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate chunks for morsels. Add 1 cup white chocolate morsels, 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut, and 1/2 cup macadamia nuts with chocolate chunks. Proceed as directed.
18 Comments
Too Many Cookies: Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies
August 8, 2011 at 12:41 pm[…] have two recipes for chocolate chip cookies that I adore: a soft chocolate chip cookie recipe and a chewier, crispier chocolate chip cookie recipe. Though chocolate chip cookies can be endlessly adapted and modified to suit different tastes and […]
Jennifer
February 6, 2009 at 3:00 amThe problem with making those, is I would eat them all! My absolute favorite of all time!!
Annemarie
February 5, 2009 at 3:00 amThanks for stopping by! These cookies are next on my list!!
Lorraine @NotQuiteNigella
February 1, 2009 at 3:00 amYou’ve sold me with the first pic! hehe at chocolate chips can find their way on their own. Sometimes the crunch from the walnuts is distracting from the bite of the chocolate chip 🙂
Hayley
February 1, 2009 at 3:00 amI love all the variations you provided. They all sound so delicious, and that picture looks sooo tasty. Thanks for sharing!
sforshner
February 1, 2009 at 3:00 amI want to make those today.
alexandra's kitchen
January 31, 2009 at 3:00 amyuk to Cate but yum to these! i love finding a recipe that ends the seemingly life-long quest for the best/perfect/ultimate. These look awesome!
lisa (dandysugar)
January 30, 2009 at 3:00 amMmmm. I love finding the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. This one sounds divine! Yummy photo.
Food Hunter
January 30, 2009 at 3:00 amI love chocolate chip cookies. I’m drooling right now.
thatShortChick
January 30, 2009 at 3:00 amheaven = the first bite of a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie.
janelle
January 30, 2009 at 3:00 amI am so all over this; it is printing… right… now. Thanks, or should I say: my kids thank you;)
Marie
January 30, 2009 at 3:00 amYummy! Those look so delish! I had to stop myself from eating my screen. 😉
KC
January 29, 2009 at 3:00 amOooooh those look fantastic! I think I’ll use this recipe to make some cookies for my new man. They’re his fav. 😉
Heather
January 29, 2009 at 3:00 ammmmm. any chocolate chip cooking makes me happy. i love when they’re a little crispy on the inside, and then fluffy and gooey on the inside. mmmmmm.
Erin
January 29, 2009 at 3:00 amThose do look incredibly scrumptious. I love the ccc recipe in my blog, but I thought for variety I might try another. If I ever get around to it, maybe I’ll try this one!
Elra
January 29, 2009 at 3:00 amHow would I turn down this delicious CCC?
Cheers,
Elra
mandy
January 29, 2009 at 3:00 amSounds like a perfect way to use my mixer this weekend. A perfect chocolate chip cookie sounds so good right about now.
Natalie
January 29, 2009 at 3:00 amyum! quick question…how many cookies did this recipe make?