Chocolate Chip Cookies

The first time we planned to go to the Minnesota State Fair, everyone told us we just had to get a bucket of cookies from Sweet Martha's Cookie Jar. Hot cookies served fresh from the oven seemed like an odd idea for fair food, and I have to admit that we didn't jump on the bandwagon that first year. Still, we noticed the hoards of people around the cookie stands and the many others who carried around heaping buckets of cookies throughout the fairgrounds, and our curiosity was piqued.

It turns out that Sweet Martha sells millions of cookies EVERY DAY during the fair, and the owners pocket millions of dollars for the few weeks they are open each year. So the next time we went to the fair, we decided to give the tradition a try. We bought the cone of cookies and shared a cup of All-You-Can-Drink milk, and we came to two conclusions: 1. Cookies and milk are the perfect Minnesota treat and 2. Sweet Martha's famous cookies taste surprisingly like Matt's own chocolate chip cookie recipe!

Our recipe comes from Matt's family. His siblings used to make these cookies all the time, and now we all make them with our own children. According to family legend, the recipe came right off of the back of a bag of chocolate chips, but it's not the recipe you'll find there today.

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Chocolate chip Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup Crisco
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 1/4 to 3 cups of all-purpose flour
​Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions

1. Cream the shortening and sugars with a whisk attachment. Combine with the remaining wet ingredients.
2. Mix together the dry ingredients with about 2 1/4 cups of flour. Switch to the paddle attachment and add to the wet ingredients. Add additional flour until the dough does not stick when you pinch it between your fingers.
3. Add chocolate chips to satisfy your preference (I prefer part mini and part regular).
4. Bake at 325 degrees on a lined cookie sheet until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Allow to finish cooking on the pan after you have taken them out.

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Truthfully? I didn't even like chocolate chip cookies until I tried Matt's recipe. And now we make them All. The. Time. I haven't even tried other recipes, even though Sarah Kieffer's Pan Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies do look tempting! And even though we love Sweet Martha's (as any Minnesotan should), I'm glad we don't have to wait for the fair each year to have these delicious cookies!

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As an added bonus, I thought I'd also share my go-to oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. I use the recipe from Bless This Mess, but I only grind 1 1/2 cups of the oatmeal, leaving the rest whole for more texture. I also stick to all semi-sweet chocolate chips, with my preferred blend of mini and regular. It's a new favorite, but a favorite all the same. Now if only I could find an amazing Snickerdoodle recipe, my life would be complete!