Wedding - Hiking Cake, Cupcakes and Cookies

Finished! Wedding cake - hiking/camping cake!

Hiking Cake - Work in Progress!

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies In the World!

Hi all,

These are a riff on the old fashioned Toll House cookies, with a few small changes and some special things I do.

Ingredients

Bag of Toll House cookie chocolate chips

2 sticks salted butter (recipe calls for unsalted, but growing up, I never know what unsalted butter was, and always used salted, and the cookies taste much better! Also, as my Grandma Augie used to say, if you're going to use margarine, don't bother making the cookies) 

3/4 cups white sugar

3/4 cups tightly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla - I ALWAYS use at least 2 teaspoons vanilla - extra vanilla never hurt a cookie, don't you agree?????

1 teaspoon water - Toll House recipe took this out - I don't know why

1 teaspoon salt - YES, more salt!!!

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 to 2 1/4 cups flour

Make sure your butter is room temperature. If the butter is cold, you can put it in a plastic bag and in some hot water, but don't microwave it. They just don't come out right, ok? And don't let it melt in the hot water. Whip the butter a bit - maybe 30 seconds. Add the sugar, mix it together. Add the brown sugar, mix just until mixed. Add the eggs and beat until just incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl.

Here is where I go off the rails. The recipe calls for one teaspoon of vanilla, but I've added as many as 3 teaspoons, some after the flour is in. Start with two teaspoons, add one teaspoon of water, one teaspoon of salt, and one level teaspoon of Baking Soda. Mix them in well, but don't beat. Slowly add the flour - start with 2 cups, and if you think the dough can take another 1/4 cup, add it. If too dry, just add a bit more vanilla. :) The recipe has gone back and forth from 2 cups flour to 2 1/4 cups. I generally found 2 1/4 cups was too much, but sometimes add a smidge more than 2 cups. 

Now, use the butter wrappers to grease your pans or use a paper towel tout some butter on the pans. Once I butter them once, I never butter them for the same batch of cookies. My cookies come out very crispy on the bottom, flatter and awesomely delicious!!! Be prepared to hide them and dole them out to your hungry family!! 

Some Spring Flowers- in Buttercream!