Charlotte’s Toll House Cookies Recipe

This is one of those classic, all-time favorite cookie recipes, originally found on the back of the bag of chocolate chips. I even still have - but just barely - the original copy in my recipe box.

By the way, as you leaf through your family recipe books and recipe boxes, skip those clean, pristine-looking recipes and go straight for the fingerprinted, flour-marred pages. That’s where you will find your family’s favorite and often-made dishes.

My Toll House Cookies Recipe

As I was saying, this is an all-time favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I’ve made a couple of alterations that make these a more chewy cookie so that’s why I call it my recipe.

You will need:

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoon salt.

Set this aside.

Combine 1 cup softened butter or shortening. I prefer shortening but if you want a more rich cookie, use butter. And you can combine 1/2 cup butter with 1/2 cup shortening.

3/4 cup granulated sugar;

3/4 cup firmly packed (I use light) brown sugar;

1 teaspoon vanilla;

1/2 teaspoon water.

Beat until creamy.

Beat in 2 eggs.

Add flour mixture; mix well.

Stir in 1 cup or half of a 12-ounce package of chocolate morsels. The original recipe calls for the whole bag but I found that was just too much.

*Now I place the dough in the refrigerator for an hour or so. Combined with cooking at the lower temperature this makes the cookies less crumbly and more chewy.

Preheat oven 325F*. The original recipe calls for 375F but that’s too hot in my oven so I cook it at the lower temperature.

Drop by well-rounded half teaspoon fulls onto greased cookie sheets.

Bake 10-12 minutes.

Allow to cool on a cookie rack. Store in airtight bags. I also freeze them individually on a cookie rack and then store in a freezer bag.

If you over bake, as I may at times, just let them cool and then use them as ice cream crumble.

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Charlotte