Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everyone has a chocolate chip cookie recipe and thinks it's the best. I roll with the classic recipe on the back of the Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chip bag. I'm not saying it's better than yours, but it's my favorite to bake. It's what my mom used, and I've made them so many times I have it memorized.

Toll House Cookies

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
16 oz (2 cups/1 regular bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 375F (I've found I like them better at 350F). Mix sugars in medium bowl. Cream in butter. Beat eggs into mixture until even consistency. Add vanilla.

In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. (I generally skip this step if I'm using my KitchenAid, but I've found that if hand mixing with a wooden spoon it's totally worth it.)  Add chocolate chips.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (just started doing this and it's awesome. You can pull the cookies off with your fingers -- no spatula required!). Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 2 minutes on pan; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

My friend is getting married this week and requested a batch of these cookies to have around the lodge for munching on in the morning while we're getting dressed. I decided to make a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies as well because there will be a ton of people about that morning.

I modified this recipe after eating a giant cookie that an old co-worker of mine made. It was so delicious and chock full of oatmeal that it was almost more granola bar than cookie. She said that she loved her chocolate chip cookie recipe, but just didn't think it was healthy enough for her kids, so she started adding oatmeal to it... then added more oatmeal the next time she made them... then added more the next time.  Now she adds as much oatmeal as she can and still have a dough-like consistency. If she added any more oats it would fall apart when baked. I've started making these, but with all the tricks I've learned to cut out fat and sugars (read calories) in baked goods.

"Healthy" Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
From me!

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup Splenda
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1/3 cup egg substitute (such as Egg Beaters)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 2/3 cup flour
~6 cups Quaker Quick-cooking oats (I've tried store brand and much prefer Quaker)
16 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream together brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter. Add applesauce. Don't worry if it looks kind of water and not how creamed butter and sugar usually look.  Beat in egg and egg substitute. Add vanilla

In separate bowl, combine salt, baking soda, and flour. Add to wet mixture and stir until combined. Add oatmeal, 1 cup at a time, until dough is saturated with oatmeal. Add chocolate chips (sometimes I'll add more than 16 ox if I add more than 6 cups oatmeal).

Drop balls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes or until tops of cookies just begin to brown. Note: cookies will not flatten or expand if saturated with oats.  Cool 2 minutes on pan; remove to wire rack to cool completely.