Baking With Mrs. Dye

I come from a strong line of bakers. My mother and grandmother could create a lemon ice box pie, a chocolate pudding, or a German chocolate cake that would perfectly complete a meal, leaving us all in a deliriously happy stupor and punctuating my childhood with sweetness.  For years, my sister Dana and I have tried to emulate their masterpieces in the kitchen. We would gather the ingredients and procure the actual recipe cards, smattered with whipped egg whites and stained with vanilla extract, and set about making a pecan or egg custard pie or maybe even holiday tea cakes or an ambitious batch of divinity candy (if the weather was just right!).  But we always, always fell short.  Our meringue was not fluffy enough, our cookies were not the crispy but gooey texture we remembered, and our pies fell flat.  We followed the steps meticulously, reading my grandmother’s familiar handwriting and noting the “amendments” she had made through the years.   But nothing ever tasted the same; the sweets were sweet enough, but they just didn’t taste like, I don’t know, our childhood.

Around ten years ago, my parents gave Dana and me one of our favorite Christmas gifts:  a KitchenAid Stand mixer.  We were so proud of our mixers.  Surely these were the missing links on our quest to baking success. Once again, out came the family recipes, in went all the standard ingredients, and….again, disappointment.  Somewhere along the way I realized that these family treasures were not going to be passed down through me, and that was okay.  So I began making my own jabs at making confectionary memories.  I tried pies and cakes and real brownies (not from a box) and I landed on a simple staple:  the chocolate chip cookie.  I found a recipe that I liked and, like my Mimi before me, tweaked it over the years to land on a dessert that I am proud to share.  And let me tell you, these cookies have been shared.  They have been my offering to church youth group suppers, cast parties, slumber parties, new neighbors, grieving friends, college students needing a taste of home, friends in need of a pick-me-up, and, occasionally, my own family, “just because.”  They are made with all the same ingredients that my mother and grandmother used in their baked delicacies through the years with an extra heaping of love.  I’m sharing my recipe with you now, in the hopes that you can enjoy them while making your own memories. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Yield (around 4 dozen cookies)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 eggs

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

3 cups of all-purpose flour

16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (I have added Heath bar pieces or even Cadbury malted egg pieces for holiday fun)

Place sugars, butter, eggs, and vanilla in mixer; turn on low speed and mix for 30 seconds and then a higher speed for 30 seconds.  Stop and scrape bowl.

Turn to Stir speed and gradually add baking soda and salt and flour to the sugar mixture.  Turn up the speed and mix about 30 seconds.  Add chocolate chips and turn back to Stir speed for 15 seconds.

Drop rounded teaspoons onto greased baking sheets about 2 inches apart.  Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Remove from baking sheets immediately and cool on wire racks.