Chocolate Chip Cookies by Shaina

I shared these cookies with my home girls at volleyball last week and got hit up for the recipe. This recipe is from my amazing friend, Shaina, in Colorado and because I am completely computer illiterate I don't know how to say click here for the recipe and have a nice little link to take you there. So, I copy and pasted it (sorry Shaina) for you to enjoy. As a side note, you can visit Shaina's website at http://just-because-i-am-me.blogspot.com/ for more fabulous recipes. You can also buy her cookbook with more scrum-didly-umptious recipes, which proceeds go to help cover the cost of her precious little baby's heart surgeries. There is a link on her page. So, without further ado, here's the recipe in Shaina's words.

Original Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

(otherwise titled: The most fantastic chocolate chip cookie ever!)

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In your mixer, combine 2 cups of shortening, 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, 1 1/2 cups white sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, and 1 tsp water. Then, beat in 4 eggs.

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Add in 2 tsp of salt and 2 tsp of baking soda. Mix. Then add in 4 1/2 cups of flour. Mix in a bag of chocolate chips. (optional: 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans) ((The dough will be soft and creamy. Don't add more flour. Really.)

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Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

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Ok, now here's where I get serious about the instructions. If you are using a pampered chef baking stone to cook these cookies (like I show in the picture), it might take an extra few minutes of cooking time for the first batch. The cookies should be just slightly light brown when you remove them from the oven, and whether or not you use the baking stone, LET THE COOKIES COOL DOWN 10 MINUTES BEFORE YOU REMOVE THEM FROM THE PAN! That is so important! If you try to remove them right away, they will fall apart into a mushy heap, and it won't be pretty.

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If you forget my instructions, and remove them right away, and say "What was she thinking? These came off just fine" I'll let you know right now, that you overcooked the cookies, and that those cookies are going to be so hard and crumbly when they cool down; they won't taste good at all. Trust me on this. You want them BARELY light brown. Take those babies out and you'll have cookie perfection in a matter of minutes.

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If you are like most of my friends, you'll prefer the cookie dough. When I make this recipe, because it makes a lot, I usually form the dough into cookie balls, line them on my big baking sheet, and freeze them for a few hours, until I can remove them from the pan and place them all in a double lined Ziploc bag. Whenever I want to make cookies, I just get out the selected amount, put them on my baking stone, and bake away. Or...I hand out the bags of cookie dough to friends, who usually eat them up before they even make it to the baking pan. It really is THE BEST cookie dough I've ever had, and before I ever made these, I was not a fan of cookie dough. These little chocolate chip blessings changed my life (and my hip size!).

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So once again, if you still aren't convinced that this is the best recipe ever, then I would just suggest that you try them. I believe I'll change your mind. If you like mint chocolate chips, or peanut butter chips, or other combinations of goodness, then feel free to tweak the add-ins for this recipe. It's a great base recipe for whatever cookie catches your fancy.