Classic chocolate chip cookies

This week, my friend Cheryl placed a custom order for chewy chocolate chip cookies at my bakery, Su Good Sweets.

These were the cookies that started it all. They're the first things I distinctly remember baking. Ever since seventh grade, these cookies were a Christmas tradition. My mom and I would mix them together and bake them on homemade cookie sheets (paper grocery bags cut to size). Try it, it works! I'd peek through the oven window and watch the oddly shaped globs magically melt down into circles. Then, we'd pull out the sheets and let them cool on newspaper. I was always suprised at the circumference of oil that pooled around the cookie. But I did feel a little better seeing the paper soak some of it up.

Since then, I've reduced the butter and slightly altered the flours. If my calculations are correct, these can qualify as reduced-fat cookies (which mean 30% less fat, I think). But oh, you can't tell that these cookies have an extra health kick. There's no point to eating reduced fat food if the flavor and texture are compromised.

I can't disclose the recipe, but I will say that the "secret" ingredients are whole wheat flour and brown sugar. The two impart a toasty, caramel flavor while leaving the dough soft and chewy. The not-so-secret ingredient is butter. All cookies must have fat, which generally comes in the form of butter, shortening, or margarine. Margarine costs four times less than butter, but it's basically salty oil. So margarine does nothing for flavor or texture. Shortening is easier to work with, but I can detect it from a mile away. Not only is it loaded with unhealthy trans-fats, but it makes baked goods taste like solid blocks of wax. But butter is creamy and decadent.

These chewy cookies have caramelized (but not hard) edges and melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chips. If you're interested, you can do a write-in order for now. They're $4 for a dozen. Yes, you can either get three chemical laden McDonald's cookies (which probably sit under a heat lamp) for a dollar, or three Su Good Sweets cookies for the same price.