5-Star Chocolate Chip Cookies
Reminiscing about one of my oldest and dearest friends, and the cookie recipe we have both been making for decades.
I used to love to watch Gray’s Anatomy, specifically because of the friendship between Meredith and Christina. They had their own problems and relationship issues, but they were always there for one another. It seems not many of us get to have that kind of long-term friendship, born of shared experience but lasting far beyond, and with a fierceness that love, disappointment, heartache, time or distance can’t destroy. I’m lucky enough to have one of those.
Early into high school I met “the new girl” who sat behind me in Mr. Carter’s French class. Her partner in an oral presentation was also new, and they were so quiet they were almost whispering their assignment at the front of the class. I’m not sure how far into the year we actually started hanging out, but that year we became close friends. There was a small group of us - yearbook nerds - who spent most of our time together. And she was no longer quiet!
When my parents were out of town, Cheryl would come and stay with me, and I learned it’s much more fun to cook with a friend. How do you know when the spaghetti is done? Don’t taste it, throw it at the wall! Cookies overbaked? Pretend they’re hockey pucks! Throughout high school we would make Kraft pizzas from a box kit, Pillsbury cookies from the tube, Kraft Dinner of questionable quality, but also muffins and cookies from scratch and once a birthday cake. Some things turned out, some things most definitely did not. Time together in the kitchen was always full of laughter, and sometimes a little eyerolling!
Nothing beats warm chocolate chip cookies and a glass of cold milk!
I remember the Pillsbury chocolate chip cookies in my university apartment, eaten while watching my tiny black and white TV. A simple tomato sandwich made in my Bright St kitchen that suddenly became a specialty curated ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato cucumber sandwich that now may or may not need bacon… Nachos (slightly burnt) on Centre St. “Making” icing sugar in a grinder to ice a cake in the kitchen on Garfield St.
Every memory I have of being in a kitchen with Cheryl makes me smile. And who knows why the recipes we could make alone turned out perfectly, but when cooked together were a flop?
Our shared 5-Star Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe is a prime example. Separately we made awesome batches. Together, hockey pucks! This Easter we were both making these with micro-mini-eggies. I asked Cheryl to send me a photo of her finished product. They looked just like mine!
High school isn’t something I would re-live for any amount of money, but when Cheryl and I get together, we always reminisce about those days. What became of so-and-so, and “remember when” pepper our conversations, whether infrequently in person, or now almost daily by text. We have had years when our contact was sparse and sporadic, and years when it has been constant. I’m grateful for all of it. She continues to be my person.
5-Star chocolate chip cookies - definitely a favourite in our house!
5-Star Chocolate Chip Cookies
INGREDIENTS
1 cup softened butter
½ cup white sugar
1 ½ cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 ½ tsp vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
SUPPLIES
large mixing bowl and spoon, or electric stand mixer with the flat beater attachment, if available
cookie trays
parchment paper (not strictly necessary but helpful)
METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In the mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla.
Add flour, salt, powder and soda, mix until combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
With your fingers, place golf-ball sized dough portions 2” apart on cookie tray lined with parchment paper
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
Substitution note:
These cookies are also good with the addition of ½ cup pecans or walnuts, individually (un)wrapped caramels cut into quarters (you need to use parchment for these), or a handful of mini eggies for a seasonal change.
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Sue:
Sue tends a kitchen garden in Alberta, growing as much of the family's food as the season allows. She writes about what comes out of the soil and what ends up on the table — honest, unfussy, and rooted in Canada.