CHOCOLATE CHIP ANGEL COOKIES

 It seems like all I want to do lately is bake. I could be sewing, but except for five face masks I made yesterday, I haven't sewed in many weeks. I really do need to get back though as I need to finish a baby blanket I started maybe a month ago for my cousin's new grandson. I have the top finished, just currently stuck on what to put on the back. At the rate I'm moving, Garrison will be grown before I finish it. 😢

So the kitchen is where you can find me most days. Today as Wayne was cutting himself a slice of the Grape-Nuts Bread, he said, "You should sell this. You could open a shop and sell your biscuits and bread, but knowing you, you would want to diversify." Ha...he's right. I would be featuring different baked goods every day. You would just have to drop by every day to see what I was selling that day.

I picked up one of my cookbooks this morning America's Best Recipes - 1992 Hometown Collection and starting flipping through it. I noticed that I had checked several recipes and some I had even written "Blog" on them to let me know I made and shared it here. If I didn't do that, I would forget. To be honest some of the ones I had written blog on, I don't remember making them. 

I ended up putting some stick-on strips to make some of the recipes that I wanted to remember to check out again. A few I wrote down on my notepad to try to cook within the next week or two. Wayne asked me what I was doing, if I was looking for recipes? I held up the cookbook so he could see all of the green tabs showing and said I had found a few. He ended up waving his arm around the room and said something about how many cookbooks I had. 

The recipe for these chocolate chip cookies was the first one I saw when I opened the book. I immediately got a stick of butter out of the refrigerator to get at room temperature before I did any thing else. Just reading the recipe, I knew I would be making them before the day got away from me.

The name intrigued me a little - Chocolate Chip Angel Cookies. I kept rereading the instructions to see if I was going to shape them into an angel, but no just into a ball and roll in the sugar. After eating one still warm out of the oven, I think the name refers to how you feel eating one. They are so good, melt in your mouth, and you think you have died and gone to heaven (and therefore an Angel).

The most disappointing thing is the recipe said it made 5 dozen cookies and I only got 4 dozen + 3 cookies one of which had no chocolate chips or nuts since I scraped the sides of the bowl to make a one more cookie. It will be hard for me to share any of these with a neighbor.

The recipe was contributed by Monty Bordelon from The Cajun Connection Cookbook, Trinity Catholic Church Booster Club in St. Martinville, Louisiana.  

CHOCOLATE CHIP ANGEL COOKIES

1/2     cup butter, softened or at room temperature

1/2     cup shortening

1/2     cup sugar

1/2     cup firmly packed brown sugar

1        egg

1        teaspoon vanilla

2        cups flour

1        teaspoon baking soda

1        teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4     teaspoon salt

1        10 - 12 ounce package chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chips)

1         cup chopped pecans

Additional sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or grease two cookie sheets. Set aside.

Cream butter and shortening in a large mixing bowl til smooth.

Gradually add the sugars, beating well at medium speed.

Scrape the sides of the bowl often.

(Since I was using the same 1/2 cup measuring cup, I added the white sugar and then added the brown sugar.)

Add egg and vanilla and

beat well.

Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt in another bowl with a whisk.

Add to creamed mixture,

mixing well.

Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Shape dough into 1 - inch balls and roll in sugar.

(I used my cookie scoop, rolled in hand to form a ball, and

then rolled in sugar in a small bowl.)

Place balls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.

Bake 14 to 15 minutes (15 if using the parchment paper).

Remove cookies and allow to cool on wire rack. (Make sure you enjoy one while still warm.)

You know these would be a great gift for the holidays to friends, neighbors, and family.