Chocolate Chip Comfort

I have had a decidedly uneventful week this week.  The weather has been cold, too cold to get outside and enjoy the fresh air.  The sky is dark at 5:30 p.m. now and makes for one sleepy little lady by 7:00 p.m.  We stayed home this weekend and enjoyed doing a whole lot of nothing (divine!) but on that note, quiet weekends do not interesting blog posts make.

So, since I deprived you of a recipe last week, I thought I would offer up one of my all time favorites for you to enjoy.
 
Call me old fashioned but I sincerely believe every Mom should have a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe in their cooking repertoire.  I substitute brown rice flour for all purpose flour and I promise you won't be able to tell the difference.  In fact, I would argue the cookies are actually more flavorful using the brown rice flour and are certainly more wholesome.  Also, you can use margarine instead of butter if you choose however I am a big proponent of cooking with real food - real butter, real sugars, etc.  You can feel good about this wholesome recipe and trust me, if these chocolate chip cookies don't bring you comfort on a cool day, you are in for a very long winter.

In addition, I always double the recipe (you will notice this in the photos) and put 75% of the dough in the freezer for later.  I love being able to make a few cookies at a time fresh from the freezer when the craving calls or when I have guests expectantly or otherwise. Please see below for instructions on freezing the dough.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 Cups Brown Rice Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Cup Organic Salted Butter, softened
2 Large Organic Eggs
1 Cup Organic Brown Sugar, packed
1 Cup Organic Granulated Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I use Ghiradelli because they are all natural)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

• In a medium mixing bowl, combine rice flour and baking soda and set aside

• In a large mixing bowl, combine sugars and butter, blending at medium speed until smooth

• Add eggs and vanilla, stirring to combine

• Slowly add in flour combination to butter and sugar combination, mixing by hand until well blended

• Stir in chocolate chips

• Spoon dough onto ungreased baking sheet (approximately 1.5 inch rounds)

• Bake for 10 - 11 minutes or until edges begin to brown

• Remove from pan and cool on rack for 5 minutes

• Enjoy!

Freezing Directions

• Place a large piece of waxed paper on a cutting board
• Scoop 2 Cups of dough onto the waxed paper

• Form dough into a log

• Roll log in waxed paper

• Place covered log into a zip closure freezer bag

• Repeat until dough is gone.
• To serve, remove from freezer and cut portion of log you wish to use.  Spoon dough onto cookie sheet and bake as directed above.  Return unused portion to the freezer. (dough can be frozen for up to 6 months)