my perfect chocolate chip cookie

I was whipping up a batch of my fav-a-fav chocolate chip cookies this afternoon for a little get together tonight, when I realized.... I still haven't shared my recipe! I did want to say, first, that while this is my absolute favorite chocolate chip cookie, as close to perfection I will ever come in my baking career ;) everyone has their own opinions on what constitutes a great cookie and maybe this one isn't for you. Some people like their crackers cookies crunchy (you people are crazy...), others like warm cookie dough, and these are somewhere in the middle. They've got the slightest crunch but they're soft and just beyond gooey in the middle. They... sigh... I'm never going to do them justice, but I'll just say they never fail to make me say,"How are they so dang good!?" Seriously. Every. single. time.  So instead of you reading about them, you should go make some and then you'll see :)

Ingredients:
1/2 C shortening
1/4 C butter softened (you'll be glad if you use the real stuff!)
1 1/4 C brown sugar
2T milk
1T vanilla
1 large egg
2C + 2T flour
1t salt
3/4t baking soda
I've never measured how many chocolate chips I put in... probably about 3/4 of a 12oz bag?

Directions:Cream shortening and butter together in a stand mixer. Add brown sugar, milk and vanilla. Mix well scraping sides. Add egg and mix again. Scrape sides of bowl again. Gradually add half of the flour with the mixer going. Then add baking soda and salt, the mixer should still be going. Add the rest of the flour gradually. The dough should be slightly sticky and should feel almost fluffy. Scrape the sides and mix a little more. Add chocolate chips to your personal taste but make sure you stir in chocolate chips, as in by hand. You know, burn a few calories, you're going to eat a lot more in a couple minutes, that is if you haven't started sampling the dough ;)

Bake at 375 for 6-10 minutes. Usually we bake like six at a time just because we eat them all if they're all baked. While they are still very good with out being having the dough chilled first, they are better if you chill the dough for at least a couple hours. I pull them out of the oven when the peaks are just barely starting to brown a little. They'll cook a little more sitting on the pan.

It's not a terribly large batch, which is good for us because we eat a couple every night if the dough is just sitting in the fridge. But if you have a large family or crowd I'd go ahead and double it.  

Enjoy! 

(And if you gain five pounds this week, you know why)