Real "Homemade" Cookies

When my daughter Lilyan was little, she used to say "let's bake cookies Mommy".  "What a great idea" I'd exclaim, "we'll get the ingredients at the grocery store".    Well I confess, she had no idea that cookies were made from things like butter and flour and sugar.  She thought they magically baked up from a log of chocolate chip cookie dough, or my favourite the pre-sliced sugar cookies with seasonal decorations.  You didn't even have to get a knife dirty with those!
I had friends who baked real cookies with their kids, but I had no shame or guilt and proudly sent her off to school with my "shortcut" cookies. 

Martha however, sternly disapproves.  Ms. Stewart can whip up a batch of cookies with one arm handcuffed behind her back. So if she can do it, so can I.  (I can knit woolen ponchos too).

I chose two of the first three recipes in the chapter.  Both are similar in technique but with different flavour profiles (flavour profiles...how's that for chefspeak).  The first is your everyday chocolate chip cookie.  They were supposed to be chocolate chunks, but I could only find chocolate chips at the grocery store and Martha be damned I was not going to cut up baking chocolate into 1/4" chunks! Those came out a little crispy but still delicious.   The second is a butterscotch white chocolate chip with Macadamia nuts which any Starbucks would proudly display and charge a lot of money for.  These are a lot chewier and no less delicious! 

And where was Lily....upstairs in her room and came down only when they were ready to eat.  I guess that ship has sailed....

Tonight is Jim's birthday.  He would not want me to say how o(46)ld - oops typo, he is so I will keep that to myself.  I am baking him a chocolate Reese's peanut butter cup cake.  I made the cake portion last night so I just have to frost and finish it tonight.  The cake layers definitely show signs of inexperience (sunken in the middle), but I know once I get through the cake chapter in Martha's Handbook of Baking, that will not happen again.  I am sure that it will taste delicious and Jim is really very appreciative of everything I cook or bake for him. I am a lucky girl.

Look for photos tomorrow....