My Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies

My mom is a lot of things – among her traits and talents she happens to be a world class cookie maker (at least in the eyes of her family and friends).  These cookies have been bringing my family happiness and good luck for years, and now I’m passing the recipe on to you.  When I told my mom that I was going to take her recipe public she said, “Be sure to tell them how I halved the fat from the original recipe.”  See where I get it. : )
My Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 stick margarine, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• ¾ c. sugar
• ¾ c. packed brown sugar
• 2 ½ c. flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 ½ c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Stir together margarine, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until smooth and creamy.  Add flour and baking soda and stir thoroughly. (My mom always sifts them in, but if you don’t have a sifter that’s ok – you may just need to add a little water to moisten the dough if the unsifted flour makes it too dry.)  Add chocolate chips and stir to mix them in evenly.  Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees.

The baking time is my mom’s big secret.  She doesn’t like hard or overdone cookies, so she bakes hers for only 7 minutes, then sets them on top of the stove to continue warming/cooking for about 3 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

When I make these cookies Hubby prefers that I cook them a little longer, so I let them go 9-11 minutes, then do the same cooling method my mom uses.

Here’s the side by side comparison:

 

My mom’s cookies are done when there’s just a little browning on the edges.  They are very chewy and go great in the freezer because they are still soft right out of the cold.  My cookies are done when there’s coloring on the edges and on the top cookie peaks.  Mine are better right out of the oven, but aren’t as chewy.