Chocolate Chip Drop Cookies

Preheat the oven to 300° degrees F

Cooking time: 20 minutes per pan, less if you use artificial sugars

NOTE: cookies will be crisper if you use artificial sugars and they will bake faster as well. However, cookies made with regular sugars will also be crispier if you bake them a bit longer than the recipe calls for, but be careful not to burn them. In addition, some ovens may cook actually at a lower temperature than they read on the setting dial, so you may have to turn the heat up a bit. Also make sure the baking pans are completely dry before you drop cookie batter onto them, because any water will be absorbed and make the cookies less crisp. One other thing to remember is that if the weather is very humid and there is more moisture in the air in your kitchen for any reason, your cookies could also come out less crisp. If you think this might happen, try a couple of test cookies on a pan first and see how they come out and adjust the oven temperature accordingly.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Yield: two and a half dozen cookies (30)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1/4 lb. or 1 stick) margarine or butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 6-ounce bag or 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts

INSTRUCTIONS

• Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a mixing bowl and set aside.
• In another bowl and using the medium speed on your electric mixer, beat the margarine or butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons water, and the vanilla together until well blended. If you don't have a mixer, use a wooden spoon and beat this mixture together well.
• Stir the flour mixture into the margarine/butter mixture, and beat this new mixture until blended.
• Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts for the completed batter.
• Drop the batter in tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
• Bake at 300° until cookies are an even golden brown. This will take 18 - 20 minutes, or 12 - 15 minutes of you use artificial sugars. If you use 2 pans in 1 oven, switch the pans around halfway through baking to ensure all cookies are cooked evenly.
• Let the cookies rest on the baking pans for 2 - 3 minutes and then transfer them to cooling racks with a spatula. Serve them warm or cool. As they cook, they will become more crisp. Store them in an airtight container, a cookie jar, or in the freezer.

Reducing the amount of the cookie recipe ingredients that are apt to hold moisture makes it easier for liquids to evaporate during cooking. Ingredients that hold moisture in the batter are flour, eggs, and brown sugar. The fat in the recipe (butter or margarine), goes up proportionately when other ingredients are cut back and it becomes hotter in the oven than the water in the cookie batter and drives the moisture out of the baking cookies. Fats will also cause the batter to become softer and it simply melts when it gets hot -- This makes the cookies spread out on the pan. For crispier cookies, bake them longer at a lower temperature so they have longer to spread. The thinner, the crispier!