How to Make the Best Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

December 23rd, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Short or Sweet

It’s sort of a bummer that I read Deep Nutrition just as the holiday season was descending upon us. A bummer in terms of writing blog posts, anyway. I can’t come here and write about eating fewer refined carbs smack dab in the middle of the sugariest, sweetest time of the year.  Nobody wants to think about that right now!  Everyone wants to eat fudge! And pies with whipped cream and cookies with frosting! Let us rejoice and be glad!

Nope, I’m not going to do it.  I am not going to talk about eating less sugar today. Forget it. Let’s crank up the holiday music and belt out “DECK THE HALLS IN CUBES OF SUGAR” while we make some cookies. We’ll get back to chatting about cutting down on the white stuff when the tins of goodies have been emptied and the crumbs and frosting have been wiped clean from our faces.

This is all still important of course, but it’s also important to not stress yourself out with worry when it comes to every last morsel of unhealthy food you’re going to come across in the coming week here.  Enjoy yourself, have fun, we can put the Great Sugar Freak Out of 2012 on hold for now.

Chocolate Chip Peppermint Cookies

I was bitten by the holiday baking bug a few days ago when we were shopping for confectionery decor for the gingerbread house that the girls asked to make. I don’t want to be mommy martyr when it comes to holiday treats for the kids, or myself for that matter. My general approach to dessert remains the same as it was pre-Deep Nutrition:

make it yourself with real, quality ingredients

Except those green and red sprinkled white chocolate chips are probably the exact opposite of quality ingredients. Yes, I’m contradicting myself already, thanks for pointing that out. Now shut up and eat a cookie.

I’m not an expert baker, but I was really happy with the way these guys turned out – and that makes this recipe worth sharing – even if there are 5 million other chocolate chip cookie recipes out there just like it. They’re just so pretty! And easy! That makes this recipe worth sharing too.

When it comes to making really good chocolate chip cookies from scratch, these are the most crucial steps in my experience, regardless of which exact recipe you use:

Use fresh, quality ingredients. (I said that already.)

Soft butter. (Softened at room temperature, not melted in your microwave – this makes a real difference!)

Add eggs one at a time.

Stir in dry ingredients slowly.

Oh, and don’t burn them.  That’s another good tip.

Maybe we shouldn’t call these “THE BEST” – that qualifier is probably subjective. Let’s go with Really Good Chocolate Chip Cookies. That feels like a safe, non-offensive adjective from this amateur baker.  These guys stayed soft and chewy from Friday night through Tuesday afternoon when the last cookie crumb was eaten.

Really Good Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

printer friendly!

1 c of butter, softened
1/2 c white sugar
1 1/2 c brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 c flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt (omit if you used salted butter)
2 cups chocolate chips (I used 1 c mini chocolate chips, 1 c peppermint chips)

Pre-heat oven to 350. Cream together butter, white sugar and brown sugar, stir in eggs one at a time.

Whisk or sift dry ingredients together, add to your wet ingredients a little at a time. Stir in chocolate chips.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls and drop onto an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake 10 – 12 minutes, removing from the oven as soon as they are starting to brown. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before moving to a rack to finish cooling.

Makes 4 dozen cookies. YOWZA that’s a lot of cookies!  That makes these perfect for bringing along to your holiday gatherings to share with your friends and family and everyone else you will not be lecturing about eating too much sugar right now.


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