The beauty of baking is in the face of the taster.

I don’t care how pretty that cookie looks.  If it doesn’t taste amazing, no one will want to eat another.  Some cookies are so pretty, it’s a crime to take a bite of the time and love-laden masterpieces.

My baked goods are sometimes pretty, sometimes not, but either way, they always taste great!  I don’t spend much time on decorations, basically because I don’t have the patience for it.  I have been known, however, to agonize over the least little ingredient addition for days.  Do I use the nutmeg in this?  It’s so overpowering!  Maybe just a pinch.

But, if you’re one of those bakers who spends a huge amount of time decorating and creating beautiful cakes and making cute things for kids, my hat is off to you.  You have my kudos.  Your final products are beautiful and I’m kind of envious that I don’t have even a little bit of that talent.  My talent seems to be in using fattening ingredients, so everywhere I bring my sweets, I am inadvertently fattening people.

The fact that I don’t decorate happily doesn’t detract from the joy in a person’s face when they take a bite of something I’ve created.

People look past my face to my hands when I enter a room.  One woman always asks, “Are you packin’?”  Some establishments won’t let me in if I’m not packin’.

Cookies open doors.  They’re universal love.

I’ve been baking for nearly as long as I’ve been alive.  It’s just something I seem to have been born into.  I don’t have a bakery business anymore, but I continue to bake regardless of the cost of butter or eggs!  It’s just something I must do.  I feel obligated to share cookie-love with everyone…

So, without further delay, let’s get to the first cookie I want to share with you:

This incredible Soft Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe was originally found on AllRecipes.com.  (Incredible site!  Check it out.)  The recipe was great as written, but I have tweaked it a bit, and it is divine.  Someone told me these cookies were “crack.”

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe makes 6 dozen cookies! 

Ingredients

● 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour

● 2 teaspoons baking soda

● ¼ teaspoon baking powder

● 2 cups butter, softened

● 1 ½ cups packed brown sugar

● ½ cup white sugar

● 2 (3.4 ounce) packages vanilla pudding, 1 instant, 1 cook & serve

● 4 eggs

● 2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

● 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.

2.     In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips. Drop cookies by rounded teaspoonfuls 2” apart onto parchment-covered  cookie sheets.

3.     Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.