CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES, 6-2-153/4 cup each) (1 ½ cup each)

Richard asked for this recipe. I will add that I prefer to get ALL the dough out on trays before I bake any, so I am not distracted and don't burn them. Do not faint from sniffing them as they bake, they DO smell good, don't they?

I remember one of you wanting giant cookies for a school party and scooping them out with an ice cream scoop. Only once. Used M&M's a couple times. I guess a perverted person could use peanut M&Ms. The candy shells crack in the oven. Chocolate chips are better chocolate, BUT M&Ms look more festive.

                (adapted from Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook)

Bake at 375◦ 8-10 minutes, on an ungreased cookie sheet. NB, if your oven does not heat evenly, you may want to give the sheet a 180◦ turn midway. Taking them out slightly underdone makes a chewier cookie, a little more baking makes a crunchier cookie. Ovens vary in temperature, watch them closely to be sure what time corresponds to your preferred degree of doneness.  You may form the cookies and bake them immediately or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until it is convenient to bake them. In fact, you could make and freeze balls of cookie dough until hard on a cookie sheet, put them in a plastic bag or freezer container and store them in the freezer, then bake just as many as you want at a time. Do not leave the room while the cookies are baking, they are yucky, burned.

2/3 cup butter                                                   (1 cup)                  (2 cups)

½ cup each white and brown sugar          (3/4 cup each)   (1 ½ cup each)

1 egg                                                                     (2 eggs)               (3 eggs)

1 teaspoon vanilla                                            (1 ½ tsp)               (3 tsp)

1 ½ cups flour, half whole wheat               (2 ¼ cups)            (4 ½ cups)

½ teaspoon baking soda                                               (3/4 tsp)               (1 ½ tsp)

½ teaspoon salt                                                (3/4 tsp)               (1 ½ tsp)

½ cup chopped nuts                                       (3/4 cup)              (1 ½ cups)

6 ounces, one cup chocolate chips           (1 ½ cup)              (3 cups)

Cream together butter, egg(s), sugars and vanilla.

Sift together and add flour, baking soda and salt.  Stir into creamed mixture. Add chopped nuts and chocolate chips and combine evenly. Whatever size blobs/ balls you make – I usually scoop out a heaping teaspoonful to make each blob – it is important to make them all the same size, so that each sheet will cook evenly. Put your balls/blobs at least 1 inch apart, on a clean, cold, ungreased cookie sheet. They spread as they cook. When just the right shade of pale golden tan, remove from the oven and carefully slide off the cookie sheet and onto a cooling rack with a spatula. Enjoy!