Classic Chocolate Chip

February 14th is really just another day around these parts. I've never been real big on the day. Loads of money spent on flowers and chocolates doesn't make sense to me. Flowers last all of four days in my house (I have no green thumb), and chocolates promptly find a permanent resting place on my hips and thighs (not to mention I'm not a chocolate fan). If exorbitant amounts of money are going to be spent I'd rather have a pair of shoes. Scott, if you're reading, I'm a size 8.5.

Unbeknownst to me Scott arranged a baby-sitter and surprised me with a Valentine's dinner.  Seriously, so sweet. For the first time in ages neither of us had to worry about pieces of hot dog spontaneously flying out of Marcus' hands, or playing the "pick up game" for the duration of dinner. And, we didn't have to pay the insanely inflated dinner prices that Valentine's Day ushers in.

This year I did manage to snag a great deal for Scott through Living Social. He's got a round of golf at this lovely golf course (see below). I'd go with him, but I don't golf. Scott gets to golf and I get to pass this off as a Valentine's gift. Score for us both.
Scott's known of his gift for a couple weeks now. I can't keep a secret to save my soul.

Top photo source, bottom left photo source, bottom right photo source

To get to the actual point of this post... For Valentine's Day I also whipped up a batch of Scott's favorite chocolate chip cookies. If any of you long time followers were wondering, I still hate that word (the baked good that starts with the letter *c*). I made the baked goods a little early, but I made them with love and with V-Day in mind.

Let's get to it. These are Scott's all-time favorite. In fact, he hardly ever eats anything I bake. Except for these.

Classic Chocolate Chip

3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 stick butter flavor Crisco (make sure you're using the butter flavor!)
1 tsp bakin soda
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla (I always use 2 Tbsp)
1 package milk chocolate chips
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat ove to 375.
Blend brown sugar, granulated sugar, and Crisco until creamy.
Add baking soda, salt, cinnamon, eggs and vanilla. Mix until throughly incorporated.
Add flour 1/2 cup at a time.
Fold chocolate chips into dough.
Drop about 1 Tbsp of dough onto a cookie sheet. I use a small ice cream scoop.
Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until edges just begin to brown.
Remove cookies from oven.
Allow cookies to finish baking on cookie sheet for 5-8 minutes before placing on a cooling rack.

Make a batch of these for your sweetheart this Valentine's Day. They're a million times better than boxed chocolates!

For those of you who have been with the Monologues since the beginning these may look familiar. They are. I posted about them waaaaay back when. I figured this recipe needed a serious update.

Enjoy!

Source: My mother-in-law's recipe