Which is the best recipe? This is a debatable point, depending on your taste preferences. Soft or crunchy? Nuts or no nuts? Oatmeal or none? Butter or Crisco? The opinions can run very strong. We here at Ruth's Recipe Box test kitchens decided to bake five different versions and test them out. Many of the recipes were quite similar, so the those selected were chosen because of an unusual ingredient or two.
Our unbiased test panel consisted of young twenty-somethings, mostly students at Princeton University and surrounding institutions of higher learning, who were more than willing to test each cookie (with a little milk in between to cleanse the palate) and rate them in order of their favorite.
Here are the contenders:
Best Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup shortening 1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup butter 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, beat shortening and butter on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt; beat until combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.
Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. With a wooden spoon, stir in remaining flour. Stir in chocolate pieces and nuts.
Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Makes about 60 cookies.
Ilene Bryan's Chocolate Chip Cookies
2/3 cup Crisco 1/2 tsp. lemon extract
2/3 cup butter 3 cups flour
1/2 cup peanut butter 1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup white sugar 1 tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar 12 oz. chocolate chips (one bag)
2 eggs 1 cups nuts
2 tsp. vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix Crisco, butter and peanut butter until blended. Add sugars and mix well. Add eggs, vanilla and lemon extract and beat until smooth. Add remaining dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes.
Soft and Moist Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cream: 1 cup margarine, 3 eggs, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar
Add: 6 oz. (large) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 1/2 cups flour
chocolate chips (as many as desired)
Bake at 350 degrees for 9 to 10 minutes
Makes 3 1/2 to 4 dozen cookies
Variation #1 use chocolate pudding mix instead of vanilla
Variation #2 use a combination of white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts in place of the chocolate chips.
Mrs. Fields's Cookie Recipe
Cream together: 2 cups butter, 2 cups white sugar, 2 cups brown sugar (light or dark)
Add: 4 eggs and 2 tsp. vanilla
In a blender or food processor make a powder of: 4 cups flour, 5 cups oatmeal (measure, then blend)
Add to flour/oatmeal powder: 1 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. baking soda
Mix the dry ingredients with the creamed mixture and add: 24 oz. bag of chocolate chips, 3 cups nuts (optional) and 8 oz. Hershey bar, grated.
Bake on ungreased cookie sheets. Make golf ball size cookies, place 2 inches apart, and bake at 375 degrees for 6 minutes.
To make flatter cookies, flatten with a spatula after 5 minutes in the oven, then bake an additional 3 to 5 minutes depending on your oven.
Makes 100 to 115 cookies
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 stick margarine 2 tablespoons vanilla (less if using Mexican vanilla)
1 stick butter 2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup butter flavored Crisco 2 tsp. salt
2 cups brown sugar 2 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cups white sugar 4 3/4 cups flour (5 cups at altitude)
4 eggs 2 cups chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together margarine, butter and Crisco. Add sugars and beat until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat in oatmeal, soda and salt. Add small amounts of flour at a time until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop into cookie sheets and bake until slightly golden brown.
The competition was tough and the opinions varied.......
just kept eating and eating!
The votes were tallied and the cookies were ranked:
First Place: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip
Second Place: A tie between Best Basic and Mrs. Fields
Third Place: Ilene Bryan's
Fourth Place: Soft and Moist
It should be noted that all of the cookies received at least two first place votes. They were all good, especially right out of the oven. We might have to do this again with the other seven recipes, but for now I'm giving my ovens time to recover! And then there are over 20 brownie recipes to test out.
