Tuesday, December 16, 2008

An Old Standby

I don't usually make chocolate chip cookies for Christmas, but this
year my daughter requested them. With her busy schedule, she
doesn't get home very often, and of my cookies, these are her very
favorite. This recipe makes about seven dozen three inch cookies
and can be easily halved and the dough freezes well. They are
decadent.

Willow's Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 sticks of butter softened
1 cup Crisco shortening
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 tbsp vanilla
7 cups flour
1 1/4 tbsp baking soda
3/4 tbsp salt
24 oz. chocolate chips

Cream together the butter, shortening, sugars. Add eggs and vanilla.
Sift together the flour, soda and salt. Add chocolate chips.
Drop by golf ball sized scoops onto ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 350 for 10 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet, remove and
let stand on wire wrack for 30 minutes before storing.


photos by willow

81 comments:

  1. may i please, please, please come over and hang out at your house today??!! LOL the cookies look delightful and i'm sure your daughter will adore them.

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  2. I bet these are delicious!!! Mmmmmm... :-)

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  3. Yes, come on over the kettle is on! :)

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  5. Oh, Willow, what a cruel thing to do to me first thing in the morning! I was getting ready to make my oatmeal. Now I'm rummaging around in my pantry looking for chocolate chips! LOL

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  6. I love the smell of baking cookies. Mix that with holiday music and one has magic.

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  7. Mmmm, nothing like virtual cookies to feel good once more.
    Thanks.

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  8. Is the coffee on...this recipe is just what I have been looking for...makes alot! Now if you could find a good (decedent) chocolate cake with wholewheat recipe...I would be yours forever!

    sharon

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  9. Sharon, I have THE best chocolate cake recipe in the world, but it doesn't call for whole wheat flour. :(

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  10. When will the Willow Manor cookbook go to print?

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  11. I'm still half asleep but I think I see chocolate. It must be time for breakfast. Gotta go search the pantry for my Lindt truffles.
    Catherine

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  12. Yummo-- Willow, they look scrumptious! =)

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  13. I've been meaning to tell you willow, my wife loves your blog. She's quite the baker and cook. I can't understand why I don't weigh 300 pounds. She makes a luscious chocolate chip cookie too.

    There's a chocolate pie she also makes that's out of this world. The recipe is very old and came from a slave family in Kentucky. The filling is made in an iron skillet. I'll will post it soon.

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  14. mmmmmm....oooey-gooey warm chocolate chip cookies! YUM!

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  15. I hope you made the whole big recipe so there might be a few left when I get there!

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  16. I can smell them. I want one soooo bad. I love to bite into them when they are still warm and the chocolate is gooey. One of the great joys in life.

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  17. Three sticks of butter!
    One cookie and I would be a goner, literally.

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  18. These look delicious. I've been making c-chip cookies a lot lately but today, it's cream cheese sugar cookies;^)...

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  19. I can smell the aroma of freshly baked cookies now. Hopefully, I will be able to bake this weekend.

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  20. Yup, virtual cookies beat mine any day!

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  21. Mmmmm...Christmas really is when we do a lot of baking: tons of goodies. My son likes the gingersnaps I make from an old Southern Seasons recipe. Joe helps me make those "Magic Cookie Bars" on the Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk cans that are so easy, and we also make a killer toffee that tastes just like a Heathbar, and we make cranberry/orange/pecan biscotti this time of year too. Thank God we don't do it all year or we'd be blimps. Chocolate chip cookies are always a winner, for sure!

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  22. YUMMM...at last, the perfect chocolate chip cookie! Thanks for sharing.

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  23. One of my favorites. So comfy. Thanks for the recipe.

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  24. Wow, wow, wooooooow. I still have not got round to making your poached eggs yet, but I'm afraid these cookies have jumped the queue :-).

    Greetings from London.

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  25. Can I eat these with beer too?

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  26. Oh great! a close up of chocolate morsels melting! Now I'm overdue to go to the gym...I've lost all desire for the treadmill! They look heavenly good!

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  27. Your cookies tempt me but the store is miles away so my faux-diet can continue until I drive down this Naranjito mountain and go back into town...maybe tomorrow...

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  28. Now those look like just the trick to banish the winter blues!

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  29. it's hard to beat chocolate chip cookies - when my sons were at home there was never a thought of storage!

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  30. I bookmarked this in my recipe folder. YUM!!!

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  31. These cookies haven't become the classic they are for n reason!
    YUM YUM

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  32. Oh wow, willow - how I would love to have a go at making those but I cannot see how to convert your recipe into a British version so must just drool over the picture.

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  33. I wonder what the European equivalent of Crisco is.

    7 dozen biscuits should keep me quiet for an hour or two :)

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  34. Okay, now I'm hungry. Very, very hungry.

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  35. Oh my....I need two or three of these little lovelies right now to boost my brain endorphin level! They look so good and thanks for posting the recipe.

    kate

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  36. I can't get Crisco in France. Do you recommend another substitute?

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  37. i want to reach in and grab one of those cookies. mmmmm

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  38. These look yummy. And I bet the dough is pretty good, too!

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  39. I believe those went directly to my waist ...

    :-Daryl

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  40. Y U M !!

    I'm going to make a fresh ginger cake today, a new recipe. I love the smell of things baking in the oven.

    Delish!!

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  41. Wow, those look really scrumptious!! Yum. I noticed you are drinking out of your favorite Polish mug.... is it a navy blue and off white pattern? Boleslawiec?

    I was curious because I just wrote a post on our Polish-Catholic Christmas eve tradition when I was a little girl....that is why your "mug" statement grabbed my attention. Merry Christmas...and enjoy the cookies ~Cheryl

    I have added your blog to my inspirations. Thank you.

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  42. Sorry all you bloggies in Europe. I didn't realize that Crisco isn't available there. My suggestion would be to substitute it with unsalted butter.

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  43. Cottage Farm, yes! Boleslawiec! I love this Polish pottery and have lots of pieces. My favorite mug is the Peacock pattern.

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  44. These would go down well in our house but what is Crisco shortening? I like the way you measure things in cups, so much less fuss than metric measurements.

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  45. well, I can see why she requested them DO you mail them out to your fellow bloggers? lol

    Bet the house smells delicious. And 7 cups of flour sounds like it makes a LOT of cookies!

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  46. They look so nice...Tks for posting the recipe! I'm already getting fat (eating with the eyes)...

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  47. At first I wondered why you made such a big batch,t hen I realised that you planned to store some. They are not often seen in captivity, you know.

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  48. Willow,
    Save at least one for me!
    The Bach

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  49. These look so yummy! I wish you weren't so far away. I'd run by for a cup of coffee and just one cookie. The smell must have been out of this world.

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  50. Willow, this recipe is so timely! I'm off to shop tomorrow, so will make sure I have everything on the list. Oh, and please,- do post your best ever chocolate cake recipe? A-huh, a-huh, a-huh...

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  51. Yummy-looking! I have to try them out!

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  52. The people at Toll House must look with envy at your cookies,
    mamma mia,
    I am tempted to snatch one right of your cooling rack! :-)

    P.S.:
    I agree,
    you should come and spend at least one Christmas season in Vienna!
    :-)

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  53. Hello, lucky you. You're the first blogger I've chosen to follow. You're really great, I love your blogs. I've just begun mine, and yours has given me so much inspiration. I'm going to use some of those widgets - how cool are they?


    I would like to know what chrisco is - I think it must be a brand name that we don't get in Australia - is it just vegetable shortening, or something similar?

    Loving your work, Greta

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  54. Those look absolutely delish! I'm copying down the recipe!!!!

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  55. I'm in total agreement that you need a butter/Crisco mix for the perfect chocolate chip cookie! Willow, these look perfect! Not overdone; still a little gooey and melting; just the way I like them!

    I had other baking plans for today, (not to mention working on my Christmas cards), but now I want to make these cookies!

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  56. If you find you have spare....

    CJ xx

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  57. these look pretty yummy... but if i may i offer a suggestion? browning the butter first [ then cooling before beating] makes an event more sensuously fantastic chocolate chip cookie...

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  58. hello willow! You're cookies look yummy! I'm a little bit of a chef too, I hope you don't find my recipe too controversial, I'm a hardened feminist you see. would love to know what you think!

    http://ladiesalone.blogspot.com/2008/12/vagina-cake.html

    Let's swap cooking tips!

    LOVE YOUR BLOG!

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  59. looks delicious! i'll try your recipe :)

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  60. Ooooh yum! the best thing about choc chip cookies is the aroma while they are cooking.

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  61. No need for the 30 minute wait before storing tip. I will be eating them all in one sitting! Thanks for the recipe....

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  62. I love chocolate chip cookies. Yummm!!!!

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  63. Everyone wants to hang out at Willow's house. It's perfect for the season!!

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  64. it's so funny. people always ask me "how do you get your cookies so soft without them being underbaked?" a thousand times i have said, "equal parts white and brown sugar, dear..."

    thanks for sharing this. i enjoy your blog. :)

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  65. Why did you have to post such a BIG and DELICIOUS-looking picture?!?!

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  66. Looks like a good recipe...it's amazing how people can mess up chocolate chip cookies, baking is truly an art...or maybe I am one of the few people who can follow a recipe.

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  67. Yumm...why don't u join me as a seller in this ?area...confectioners.....lol
    Merry Christmas...from a new reader

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  68. I really need to make those cookies. they look incredible and I have a party to go to on Sunday that they will be perfect for! Yumm.

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  69. wOw,, YouR cOokiEs Look So dEliciOus..

    May I hAve Some,?, Hha.. Lol,,

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  70. Those look fabulous! I am going to try your recipe sometime. I also love your photographs...great technique!

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  71. I love your cookie recipe! I made them last night and I woke up this morning to the wonderful smell of chocolate chip cookies. They are a huge hit with the people I work with(they've almost eaten all of them, and I just brought them in an hour ago)

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  72. I'm feeding 20 basketball players dinner tomorrow night. I'm going to make these this afternoon for them as dessert. Bet they are gobbled up! :)

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  73. I just made thse cookies and they ARE divine, just like you said! In fact, this recipe officially ends my 2 year hunt for the "perfect" chocolate chip cookie recipe. I love the fact that the recipe calls for butter and crisco. Many recipes I've made with just butter tend to become very flat, but these keep a nice shape, are slightly crisp on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside. Just perfect!!!

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  74. CVC, I'm glad you enjoyed this recipe! I've been making it for about 30 years and they are everyone's favorite.

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)