Perfection

What we have here is the perfect chocolate chip cookie. And why is it perfect? Elementary, my dear Watson. There are no chocolate chips in it. Everyone knows that the perfect chocolate chip cookie is the one that has no chocolate chips.

At least, that's how I feel about chocolate chip cookies. It's the dough I love--that dark sweet caramelly crunch that melts in your mouth. And as much as I love chocolate, the chips kind of get in the way.

But I can't eat more than one. Which is why I always only make just one chipless cookie at the end of a batch.

Here are some with chips:
I don't know why I decided to make cookies tonight, but around ten o'clock I took some butter out of the fridge and put it in a bowl to soften. Around eleven o'clock I started mixing up the batter. I ran into a little bit of trouble after I had mixed all the ingredients except for the chocolate chips--I misread the recipe and only used half a cup of butter instead of a cup. I didn't have time to soften up more butter, so I decided to use oil instead. I figured it would be healthier, and I really didn't have a choice anyway.

The end result is good, but the dough was a little greasier and looser than usual. They also cooked up about four minutes faster than the recipe called for and my oven was at the right temperature so I figure that's on account of the oil, too.

But they taste good. It's been a long time since I've had Toll House cookies. I'm always surprised at how good they are.

It's not pretty when I get the urge to bake late at night at the beginning of the week. I'm already feeling a little sick from eating too many and I still have about five dozen cookies left. Hmmm. Who's feeling lucky?