Buttery Chocolate Chip Cookies

NOTES from THE TABLE

I started cooking in college. One of the first recipes I mastered was Betty Crocker’s Buttery Chocolate Chip Cookies. These cookies are everything a classic chocolate chip cookie should be. When they’re just right, they are chewy, but a little crisp on the outside, full of butter and love.

When I worked with college students, I spent a lot of time in dorm rooms. One night, I brought a batch of these cookies to a bible study at the start of a new semester. After one bite, a freshman girl said to me, “Mmm. Are these Betty Crocker Buttery Chocolate Cookies?”

“Yes they are.”

“My mom makes these.”

This is, simply, the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. You’ll never need another one. These taste like home.

Crowd your tables,

Megan

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BUTTERY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Find this recipe online here.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 eggs

4 cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 package (24 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (4 cups)

STEPS

Heat oven to 350°F.  Mix butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs in large bowl using spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until light brown. Cool slightly. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack; cool.

Alice Waters' Lemon Curd

NOTES from THE TABLE

It’s the start of a new year, so let’s begin with a recipe you’ll love to make for the very first meal of the day.

Of course, beyond breakfast, it’s good at tea time, snack time, and dinner, too. This lemon curd is bright, clear, and stunning. Eat it on biscuits or on french toast with berries. Slather it on cake. Eat it in small ramekins with whipped cream on top. Eat it out of the jar. Eat it by yourself anytime you want. But of course, eat it with your people, too.

Intimidated? It’s much easier than you think, and much better than anything you’ve ever had from a jar.

Crowd your tables,

Megan

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ALICE WATERS’ LEMON CURD

This recipe is shared from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food.

Wash and dry 4 lemons*

Grate the zest of one of the lemons on the small holes of a grater.**

Juice the lemons; there should be about 1/2 C juice.

Beat until just mixed:

2 eggs 3 egg yolks

2 T milk 1/3 C sugar

1/4 t salt (omit if using salted butter)

Stir in the lemon juice and zest and add 6 T butter, cut into small pieces.

Cook the mixture in a small nonreactive heavy pan, stirring constantly, over medium heat until it is thick enough to coat a spoon. Do not boil or the eggs will curdle. When thick, pour into a bowl or glass jar to cool.

Cover and refrigerate.

* If you’d rather not juice all those lemons, 1/2 C lemon juice can be substituted. Just remember you’ll still need one lemon for zest. Either way, the result is identical.

** A microplane grater will change your life.