Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup golden crisco (or unsalted butter)

1-1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla

2 eggs

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1-1/4 chopped pecans 


TIP: If desired, omit pecans and use an additional 1 cup of chocolate chips.


Preparation:

  • Cream crisco, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl at medium speed of mixer for 2 min. or until well blended.
  • Add eggs, beating 1 minute, or until thoroughly blended.
  • Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Add to mixture gradually, beating on low speed for 1 min. (until blended)
  • Preheat oven to 190 C (375 F).
  • Add chocolate chips and pecans to creamed mixture.
  • Drop dough by heaping spoonfuls on ungreased baking sheet leaving about 7 cm between cookies.
  • Bake 8-10 min. for chewy or 11-13 min. for crisp cookies.
  • Cookies will still appear moist - do not over bake.
  • Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet.
  • Place sheets of foil on countertop.
  • Remove cookies to foil to cool completely.


Makes 3 dozen cookies.







Real Cooking
Did You Know?
Crisco is a brand of shortening that is popular in the United States. It was first produced in 1911 by Procter & Gamble and was the first shortening to be made entirely of vegetable oil.
When Procter and Gamble started the company they hired chemist Edwin C. Kayser and developed the process to hydrogenate cottonseed oil, which ensures the shortening remains solid at normal storage temperatures. The initial purpose was to create a cheaper substance to make candles than the expensive animal fats in use at the time. Electricity began to diminish the candle market, and since the product looked like lard, they began selling it as a food. This product became known as Crisco, with the name deriving from the initial sounds of the expression "crystallized cottonseed oil".

As of January 24, 2007, all Crisco shortening products have been reformulated to contain less than one gram of trans fat per serving. The separately marketed trans-fat free version introduced in 2004 was discontinued. Crisco now consists of a blend of soybean oil, fully hydrogenated cottonseed oil, and partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils.

Some nutritionists are already warning that Crisco's formula change may be nutritionally irrelevant. They argue that fully hydrogenated oil may not be any healthier than trans-fat containing partially hydrogenated oil. Crisco and similar low trans-fat products are formed by the interesterification of a mixture of fully hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils. The result is "artificial" insofar as the composition of the resultant triglycerides is random, and may contain combinations of fatty acids not commonly found in nature. A recent study showed that interesterified fat increased volunteers' blood sugar by 20 percent while simultaneously lowering the body's "good" HDL cholesterol. The rise in blood sugar is problematic since it increases the chance of developing type 2 diabetes, already a growing problem in the US.