I always get many compliments on these cookies when I bring them to gatherings.

Hazel’s Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup shortening (or butter)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Cream butter and both sugars until light

1 egg
1 T. water
1/2 t. vanilla
Beat egg, add with water and vanilla and blend

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
Sift together and combine with egg-sugar mixture
(I always stir the dry ingredients with a wire whisk, it works great)

6 oz of chocolate chips
Add to flour mixture

Drop from teaspoon 2 inches apart on greased and lightly floured cookie pan (or use nonstick which wasn’t around when this recipe was written).

Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Makes 30-40 cookies

*Note*
–I usually chill this dough for several hours or overnight because it it very sticky otherwise.

–I also test the sides of the cookies after 7 or 8 minutes and take them out when the sides are set but the top will still look underdone. Leave on the cookie tray for another minute or two before moving to cooking rack to make sure the inside is done.

–Make sure shortening is fresh otherwise it does make a difference in the taste. I use those Crisco sticks of shortening and make a double batch which uses the entire stick.

–One change I made in the last few years is a tip I found in an article on Christmas baking. It said that when measuring flour, spoon the floor into the measuring cup and then level off without packing down or tapping the side. This is especially true when making roll out cookies since then will be picking up more flour as you roll them. However, it also makes the cookies in this recipe more light and airy, though the dough is even more sticky than it was to begin with! *grin*

If anyone tries this recipe, please post. I am curious to hear what people think.

BTW, I just discovered your blog and am enjoying it very much. I just started one a month ago and I’ve been looking for other ones to link to for my future readers (hoping that I get some!). If you have a minute, could you check mine out and give me any advice? I’m about 70% happy with it. I know that’s a weird percentage, isn’t it?! http://www.customdecorator.com/blog – Thanks in advance if you have time to look. I take constructive criticism pretty well, so be honest.

It’s about a woman who asks for the recipe from a server at an NM cafe and the server adds the recipe ‘bill’ for $250 to her tab. The woman doesn’t really notice the charge until she gets her statement and then goes through an ordeal with NM to try and get the charge reversed, which they wouldn’t since they said she had already ’seen’ the recipe. Bottom line is that she has shared the recipe with the world (via various emails) and decided that was the way to get her $250 worth of satisfaction.