Quick Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ever get one of those sudden cravings for fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies? It usually hits me in the evening, as I settle down to watch a movie or read a book. Alas! Most chocolate chip cookie recipes require softening butter or chilling the dough for at least a few hours. If you decide to rush and skip chilling the dough, you end up with wafer-thin chocolate chip crepes on a cookie sheet. Very aggravating, especially to those of us who prefer our cookies to have some heft to them.

This recipe is different. You can throw these together in five minutes, especially if you have a stand mixer. Unlike most chocolate chip recipes, these cookies don't require chilling. There's no butter in this recipe, so there's nothing to soften. You can be happily eating cookies within 20 minutes of deciding you want some. And best of all, these cookies are delicious: tender, sweet and melt-in-your-mouth...exactly as a good chocolate chip cookie should be.

This recipe makes 18-24 cookies, depending on how large you make them.
Ingredients:
1 c. butter-flavored shortening.
1/2 c. white sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar.
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Yes, these cookies have nice vanilla punch.
2 eggs
2 1/4 c. flour.
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt.
2 c. chocolate chips. I use semi-sweet, but you can use milk chocolate chips if you like a sweeter cookie.

Preheat your oven to 350. Mix together the shortening, white sugar and brown sugar until its light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, and mix until thoroughly combined. Add all the other ingredients except the chocolate chips, and stir to combine. The chocolate chips go in at the very end. Stir just enough to blend them into the dough.

Roll the dough into small balls, about 1 1/2 inch in diameter, and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until they're lightly browned. Let them cool on the sheet for a minute or two, then transfer the cookies to a rack to finish cooling. If they last that long, that is. I don't think anyone can resist a warm chocolate chip cookie.