Melted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

My grandsons always want to make cookies, always. Of course, I don't give in to that every time they climb the stairs to visit my granny flat, but this past Sunday, cookies were made. Henry's and Peter's number-one choice is always chocolate chip. I had just cleaned up my kitchen, and didn't want to make a huge production of it, so I went back to a very simple recipe that I adapted years ago from one my good friend Betsy always made. In one saucepan, she melted the butter, stirred in the rest of the ingredients in stages, and her cookies were in the oven in nothing flat. One pot, a wooden spoon, some measuring utensils and a cookie sheet are basically all the equipment needed. And because Pete (4 years old) is waaaay into it, he measured everything, cracked the egg, and stirred it all up. And because Henry (he's almost 7) would rather play games on my Kindl and wait for the cookie dough to magically appear (official taste tester - Little Red Hen anyone?), I didn't have too much work with the project, other than clean-up! Of course, they both like rolling the dough into small balls and placing them on the cookie sheet - which I rearrange when they're not looking! I had to remind them that if the dough went in their mouths, there'd be fewer cookies coming out of the oven. They seemed OK with that! Pete insisted on making a snake-shaped cookie that flattened into a very wide snake when it was baking. It was the first cookie he chose as soon as they had cooled to a safe temperature. There's nothing like little boys with melted chocolate on their faces as they enjoy cookies they just made!

Melted butter chocolate chip cookies! 

MELTED BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper (an indispensable kitchen item!).

4 oz. (1/4 lb. stick) unsalted butter, but you can use salted if that's all you have
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract


1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Toll House)

Directions:
In medium saucepan over low heat, completely melt one bar of butter. Stir in both sugars and mix well. Take off heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. With wooden spoon, beat in egg and vanilla.

Stir flour, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl, and then add to mixture in saucepan. Stir until completely incorporated and there is no trace of flour. Let sit for a few minutes to make sure it's cool enough for the chips. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Roll tablespoons of dough into balls. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet 2-inches apart. I can fit a dozen or 15 on a cookie sheet. Flatten balls just a bit with two fingers.

Bake 9-11 minutes (mine were done at 10 minutes). The lighter they are, the chewier they will be, at around 9 minutes. If you like a crisper cookie, go longer.

Cool for a few minutes and remove to wire rack until there's no risk of burning your mouth!

Master cookie makers! 

There's Pete's snake cookie, right there!

And I've done a little more baking, too. Delivered this one this morning to surprise Susan, a quilting buddy of my sister-in-law Lynn. Besides quilting, Susan loves her new motorcycle. Their quilting group was surprising Susan with it at lunch, and Lynn just called to tell me it was a hit!

Birthday cake for Susan who loves her motorcycle AND quilting! 

Happy March, my friends. I'll be back soon, promise! And don't forget the comment contest! A dozen scones go to the winner, announced April 1st. Comment on ANY blog post through March 31, as often as you like, and you are entered to win, and I'll ship if you are at a distance.  Just be sure to leave your name so I know who to award the scones to!