The kids are home from school and you want to welcome them with warm, gooey, chocolate-chip cookies. Visions of smiles and family unity dance through your head. Yet your homemade cookies could use some work and buying the pre-made dough always leaves you feeling like a cheat.
We turned to Lee Fisher — former politico and current president and CEO of the Center for Families and Children — for his take on the perfect chocolate-chip cookie. Fisher, who is known for bringing treats to the office, enjoys baking most with his 10-year-old daughter, Jessica (left). Creativity is the key ingredient.
"One of the secrets is to never do the recipe the same," confides Fisher. "I modify my recipe every time I bake, to keep my family guessing and on edge." M&Ms, Reese's Pieces, peanut-butter chips and various nuts are common additions.
Modification does not extend to applesauce and butter substitutes, however. "If you're interested in low-fat food," he says, "you should not eat chocolate-chip cookies, mine or anybody else's cookies. Were I still Ohio attorney general, I would make it a citizen's arrest to bake low-fat chocolate-chip cookies."
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pecan nuts, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup milk-chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix sugars, butter, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips (as well as "bonus" ingredients such as peanut-butter chips or M&Ms). Drop dough by rounded half teaspoons one inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake eight to 10 minutes or until light brown on edges (centers will be soft). Cool one to two minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to wire rack.
