The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

 2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (about 1 minute in the microwave will do the trick)

1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 11-12 min per pan

Directions:

1.      In a large bowl, sift together 2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

2.      In another bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 3/4 cup melted butter. Whisk until the sugars have dissolved into the butter. Add in the egg and egg yolk, and whisk. Then add in 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.

3.      Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Use a large wooden spoon to combine the ingredients together. Fold in 1 cup chocolate chips.

4.      Place the dough in a large bowl, cover, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. I chilled my dough overnight.

5.      When you’re ready to bake the cookies, pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees. Pull the dough out of the fridge and let it sit for about 10 minutes.

6.      Line baking sheets with parchment paper. The dough is going to be hard, and firm, and a little bit difficult to work with. 

7.      Use 3 tablespoons of dough for each cookie. Use your hands to form the dough into balls. Press a few additional chocolate chips onto the top of the dough ball.

8.      Give each cookie a good amount of space on the baking sheets. I was able to fit about 6 cookies per cookie sheet.

9.      Bake for 11-12 minutes. The cookies are going to appear under-baked. This is what you want!

10.  Allow the cookies to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring them to wire cooling racks to finish cooling.

11.  These will stay fresh for about 7 days. You will get about 16 cookies from this batch. If you’d like to make them a bit smaller, use 2 tablespoons of dough and bake for 10 minutes.

My Comments:
I always get several compliments whenever I make these cookies.  I like to make smaller cookies so I usually use about 2 Tbsp.  I also like to use semi-sweet chocolate chips. It is fun to mix it up sometimes and put the mini chocolate chips in too.  Overall, this is the easiest and yummiest cookie recipe. 

Stir Fry and Rice

Ingredients: 

1 Green bell pepper cut into strips

1 Orange bell pepper cut into strips

2 Chicken breasts cut into strips

½ cup water

5 Tbsp Teriyaki sauce (possibly more)

¼ cup Brown sugar

2 Tbsp Cornstarch

1 Tbsp Garlic Salt

Sesame seeds (as many as you like - optional)

1 can Water chestnuts (optional)

2 cups uncooked Jasmine rice

Cook Time: 25 min

Directions:

1.      Put rice and 1 ½ cups of water in the rice cooker.

2.      Put ½ cup water and raw chicken strips on the stove on medium high temperature. Sprinkle garlic salt on the chicken. You can also add some teriyaki sauce here to cook the chicken in.

3.      Cook until chicken is almost done and add the water chestnuts and bell peppers. Cook until the bell peppers are soft.

4.      Add the teriyaki sauce, brown sugar, sesame seeds and cornstarch.

5.      Take off heat and let the sauce thicken. You may have to add more cornstarch.

6.      Once the rice is cooked, serve over rice.

My Comments:

This one is one of our favorites. Sometimes we have to add more teriyaki or soy sauce than the recipe called for.  Sometimes I like to add other things like red peppers or broccoli.  This one is pretty easy to make.  I am sure other spices or sauces would make this even better.