off the wagon - chocolate chip cookies

Well, you knew it would happen, didn't you?

Or did you have more faith in me?

Sorry to let you down if you did.

This weekend I made chocolate chip cookies. I couldn't help myself. And the entire time I was eating, oh, about five of them, I kept thinking about this article. Have you seen it yet?

You can't blame me really. I mean, only a few weeks ago I bought a bag of chocolate chips from Costco. This was before I banned sugar from my diet. If you are familiar with Costco you know what a bag from there means. A lot of chips!

They have been haunting me ever since.

When the urge hit me and resolved into a force I couldn't reckon with I used what was at hand - the recipe on the outside of the chocolate chip bag. It wasn't my first choice, and I wouldn't have used it had it not been so handy. But you know, if I'd gone online and perused the many wonderful recipes out there, including this one I've been meaning to make, I may have lost my nerve and not made any. A part of my brain knew this and made sure these babies got made.

In addition to the wrong recipe, I also preheated my oven to 450 instead of 375 by some freakish accident (my new oven has a mind of its own), and burned the whole lot, smoke alarm and all. Did that stop me from eating five or six or ten? What do you think?

A fun by-product of this adventure is that my son has been making imaginary cookies with pots and spoons ever since. He ate some of the real ones too.

Kirkland's Old Fashioned Chocolate Chip Cookies (off the Costco's Kirkland brand Chocolate Chips bag)

Makes 2 dozen cookies

2/3 cup shortening & butter mixed (1/2 cup butter, fill the balance of the cup with shortening - I used 1/3 coconut oil, 1/3 vegan butter)

1/2 cup granulated sugar (I omitted this ingredient - do I get points for that??)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup chocolate Chips

optional:

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 375 F

Combine shortening, butter, sugars, egg and vanilla in a medium-size bowl. Mix thoroughly with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add baking soda and salt. Slowly add flour until thoroughly blended. Turn off mixer and fold in chocolate chips with a spatula. Add nuts if desired. 

Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake at 375 F for 8 to 10 minutes. For a softer, chewier cookie, bake until the edges and peaks are slightly golden brown.