Chocolate Chip Cookies
... chip cookies. This disease has taken away nearly everything in her life that she once enjoyed. I know that I cannot give my mother back her freedom and independence that she has been robbed of; my hope is that when I spend Sunday mornings making chocolate chip cookies with her that it takes her back to a time in her life that she holds close to her heart. Chocolate Chip Cookies are my mothers’ favorite food to eat and my favorite food to make. There are three parts to this recipe: a dry mix, a wet mix, and chocolate chips. For the dry mix you will need flour, oats, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. The wet mix consists of butter flavored shortening, eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. The first thing you must do is bring your shortening to room temperature. I usually let mine sit out overnight. Next, start by preparing the dry mix. Take two cup of oats and place them in the blender. Blend the oats on high for about one minute or until they are about one quarter of there whole size. Place the blended oats in a mixing bowl. Next you will add one cup of white flour. Then add to the mixture one teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of baking soda, and one teaspoon of baking powder. With a fork mix until well blended and set aside while you prepare your wet mixture. For the wet mixture begin by placing one cup of softened butter flavored shortening in a large mixing bowl. Add two eggs to the bowl and mix thoroughly with an electric egg beater until creamy. With a spatula scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again to ensure both ingredients are fully incorporated. Measure one cup of dark brown sugar and pack tightly with a spoon in the measuring cup, add the brown sugar to the wet mixture and mix well with the egg beaters. Next measure one half cup of granulated sugar, add it to the mixture, and mix well. Last but not least, add one teaspoon of vanilla extract (for an added kick of flavor you can use one half teaspoon of almond extract) to the bowl and mix well to ensure that all ingredients are incorporated. The mixture should look silky and smooth with no lumps. Now, you can begin to introduce your dry ingredients to the mixing bowl. I add the ingredients in half cup increments and mix thoroughly before adding more. Once all of the ingredients are in the same bowl retire the electric egg beater and mix by hand with a wooden spoon. This will require some muscle to be sure that there no dry particles left at the bottom of the bowl. Lastly you must add the chocolate chips, which I think are the best ingredient of all. I always use semi-sweet morsels, however if you prefer milk chocolate or white chocolate morsels those can be substituted. With your hands mix and knead the chocolate chips into the dough making sure that you have each and every morsel incorporated into the dough. The cookie dough is now ready to bake. Place the cookie dough on an un-greased baking sheet. I like my cookies to be the size of ...