Childhood Chocolate Chip Cookies and Crispy Rice Treats
Today is a day to go back to childhood. Childhood means biking to a friend's house, spending all afternoon making artwork, watching movies with an open box of greasy pizza, and cookies. The movies may not be the same as those I watched at age five and the artwork has undoubtedly improved, but not much else has changed.
Grandma's cookies, of course, are always the best. I have a feeling that it had something to do with coming in from playing to see a huge pile of cookies asking to be eaten, and knowing that grandma would never say I should wait until I had real food. A good many years ago, my grandma thoughtfully wrote a mini cookbook with her favorite recipes, and some of my mom's top recipes have since been written on the front and back covers. I received my own copy and promptly wrote my own favorites in the covers as well.
Chocolate chip cookies are about the easiest dessert to make, and are always satisfying, specifically because they bring back so many memories of childhood. I remember the delight of grabbing two (or three or four) cookies and a glass of milk in a wide glass so that I could sit at the table and dunk the cookies then suck out the milk. I always tried to get as many dunks as possible before the cookie crumbled into nothing and settled at the bottom of the glass. The most successful cookies were large and flat, chocolate chips sticking up like miniature mountains on the vast cookie landscape.
Although I have tried out a number of variations which basically use the same ingredients, these quantities still make my favorite childhood chocolate chip cookies.
P.S. My dad insists that coconut flakes are the secret ingredient in any chocolate chip cookie. I never choose to add it, but his cookies turn out tasty too.
Childhood Chocolate Chip Cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Cream butter, sugar and brown sugar. Mix in eggs, vanilla and baking soda. Add flour. Mix in chocolate chips and pecans. Form into balls and place on a greased baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350ºF.
Crispy Rice Treats are good too, and super fun since they always turn out well and you can add whatever you want.
6 tablespoons butter
1 bag marshmallows (10 ounces or about 40 marshmallows)
6 cups rice krispies
Melt the butter in a saucepan on the stove, then add the marshmallows until completely melted. Take it off the heat and add your rice krispies, coating until the whole thing is a sticky mess held together by strings of marshmallow. Press evenly into a greased 9x13" pan, then wait for it to cool. If you are so inclined, melt some semi-sweet chocolate and spread it over the top of of the rice krispie treats, then stick the whole concoction in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes to let the chocolate harden again. You could just eat it with the chocolate still warm, but it's messy. I prefer them back at room temperature again, but as I said, anything goes.
You could also add chocolate chips to the rice krispie mixture rather than melting them on top.
They are fantastic topped with strawberries, and I think next time I will press in strawberry pieces in little starburst patterns while the chocolate is still warm.
Grandma's cookies, of course, are always the best. I have a feeling that it had something to do with coming in from playing to see a huge pile of cookies asking to be eaten, and knowing that grandma would never say I should wait until I had real food. A good many years ago, my grandma thoughtfully wrote a mini cookbook with her favorite recipes, and some of my mom's top recipes have since been written on the front and back covers. I received my own copy and promptly wrote my own favorites in the covers as well.
Chocolate chip cookies are about the easiest dessert to make, and are always satisfying, specifically because they bring back so many memories of childhood. I remember the delight of grabbing two (or three or four) cookies and a glass of milk in a wide glass so that I could sit at the table and dunk the cookies then suck out the milk. I always tried to get as many dunks as possible before the cookie crumbled into nothing and settled at the bottom of the glass. The most successful cookies were large and flat, chocolate chips sticking up like miniature mountains on the vast cookie landscape.
Although I have tried out a number of variations which basically use the same ingredients, these quantities still make my favorite childhood chocolate chip cookies.
P.S. My dad insists that coconut flakes are the secret ingredient in any chocolate chip cookie. I never choose to add it, but his cookies turn out tasty too.
Childhood Chocolate Chip Cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Cream butter, sugar and brown sugar. Mix in eggs, vanilla and baking soda. Add flour. Mix in chocolate chips and pecans. Form into balls and place on a greased baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350ºF.
Crispy Rice Treats are good too, and super fun since they always turn out well and you can add whatever you want.
6 tablespoons butter
1 bag marshmallows (10 ounces or about 40 marshmallows)
6 cups rice krispies
Melt the butter in a saucepan on the stove, then add the marshmallows until completely melted. Take it off the heat and add your rice krispies, coating until the whole thing is a sticky mess held together by strings of marshmallow. Press evenly into a greased 9x13" pan, then wait for it to cool. If you are so inclined, melt some semi-sweet chocolate and spread it over the top of of the rice krispie treats, then stick the whole concoction in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes to let the chocolate harden again. You could just eat it with the chocolate still warm, but it's messy. I prefer them back at room temperature again, but as I said, anything goes.You could also add chocolate chips to the rice krispie mixture rather than melting them on top.
They are fantastic topped with strawberries, and I think next time I will press in strawberry pieces in little starburst patterns while the chocolate is still warm.
Try mixing in some nutella. I did it for my coworkers and they were such a hit. You just add the nutella to the marshmellow mixture.
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