twelve days of christmas baking: day one

For the twelve days of Christmas, I thought I would divulge some of my favorite baking recipes. I'm a baker. I go through a bag of flour every two weeks. I bake pies, cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, bread and muffins for just about any occasion. (Now you understand why our weight flucuates so much in this house.) Tim and I are being more careful about what we eat this holiday season so all the things I bake for this project will likely be gifted to someone else. Well, after we have a taste that is.

1st day of baking: eliza's chocolate chip cookies*
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. butter (room temp.)
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. white sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 1/4 c. flour
1-1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Cream the shortening, butter and sugars together. Add egg and vanilla. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix salt, baking soda and flour. Add dry mixture to wet mixture. The dough should be very crumbly. Add chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes.

*Eliza, one of the best bakers i know, gave me this recipe years ago, and I've never made any other chocolate chip cookie recipe since. It's practically fool proof as long as you follow the instructions, which are really quite simple.

Enjoy!