Strawberry Pie... or why I like baking cakes

This year for the 4th of July I went to on of my FAVORITE tasting rooms.  Bedford Winery in Los Alamos is really the place to be, from the first time I walked through the doors there almost a year ago, I felt like family.  They host a ton of special events throughout the year, and offer a great selection of wines to sample in their tasting room.  If you love dogs, books, and wine (like me) this place will feel like home.  

The event for Independence Day was BYOPFP (Bake Your Own Pie For Prizes), and of course I had to participate (even if there may have been a slight conflict of interest with my BF being one of the judges).  I started thinking of all the pies I love, what I thought I could make, and what would stand out in a crowd.  I immediately thought of my Aunt Josephine's Strawberry Pie, but was a little intimidated because I've never baked a pie before (and I would learn for good reasons).  I took that inspiration and started thinking about what I wanted to make.  BF and I brainstormed a little and we cobbled together a pretty kick ass pie.  It wasn't one of the winners, there were some kinks to work out, but for a first attempt, I'd call it a success... with a teensy bit of side-eye.

The pie story really begins on the 3rd of July, when I went shopping for ingredients. I picked up a pretty pie plate at Target, along with a few other essentials (some clothes, some house hold items... you know, all the stuff you can't live without)... and by dawdling there I missed getting the the berry stand before they closed. BY FOUR FREAKING MINUTES. I knew they would open again in the morning, but I wouldn't have time to let the berries set up if I waited, that meant I would have to buy them at the grocery store. Now for most people, grocery store strawberries are the only option (and I feel really sorry for you), but I live in the strawberry capitol of California, and store bought ones only get purchased out of sheer desperation. So I go to the Albertson's near my house, buy two clamshells of berries and the rest of the ingredients I needed and headed home.  

While prepping the berries the night before (I quarted the regular sized ones, chopped the larger ones into pieces that were close to the others.... roughly 4 cups of strawberries) I realized that it was a stroke of genius to buy double what I thought I needed.... mostly because half of the berries were bruised and rotten. Way to go Albertsons, way to suck. I could have taken them back and complained, but I really didn't have time or the inclination.

that's not a giant bug, it's a mint leaf, I swear! 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups self rising flour
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 4+ cups of strawberries
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Mint Leaves
• Basil Leaves
• Unflavored Gelatin
• Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips--Melted
• Cooking spray
• Heavy Whipping Cream
• Vanilla
• Powdered Sugar

Berries:

• Quarter roughly 4 cups of berries, they will shrink overnight, you'll need about 3 cups to fill the pie.
• Mix in a generous splash of your favorite balsamic vinegar, a few mint leaves, and a few basil leaves.
• Let sit overnight to get the juices flowing.
• After the berries have set overnight and created a juice  strain the berries.  Boil a small amount of the juice with the unflavored gelatin until it has thoroughly mixed.
• Mix the gelatin mix back into the berries and put into the fridge while the crust is getting ready.

Trisha Yearwood, you're a godsend,
this is the BEST pie crust I've ever had. 

For the crust I doubled Trisha Yearwood's Shortbread recipe (because 1, it's super easy to make, and 2. who doesn't LOVE shortbread? It's a clear winner).

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Mix flour, butter, brown and granulated sugars in an electric mixer until thoroughly combined.  (I mixed the last bit by hand because the mixer wasn't getting the butter just right)
• Spray the pie plate with your favorite cooking spray (mine is Trader Joe's coconut oil spray)
• Bake for 25 minutes
• Don't panic if the crust falls/flattens, you can press it back into place with a wooden spoon or use your Pampered Chef Mini-Tart Shaper like I did (seriously, that little gadget kept me from crying and/or burning my fingers).
• Allow to cool completely before spreading chocolate shell/ganache.

Tollhouse Semi Sweet morsels 

The next step was getting my double-boiler action on.  I tossed about 3/4 of a 16 ounce bag of semi sweet Nestle Tollhouse morsels, but you can use whatever your favorite chocolate is to create the shell.  I wanted to make sure that the berries didn't make the cookie crust soggy, but I didn't really think about how creating a chocolate shell layer would make the pie hard to cut into slices.  The baker at my BF's work suggested making a chocolate ganache, so that you'll still get the chocolate flavor, a barrier between the cookie and berries, AND you'll be able to cut the pie without too much difficulty.




This is how the pie looked before I put the strawberries in, I waited for the chocolate to harden into a complete shell, dumped the berry mixture in, and made some whipped cream according to the directions on the heavy whipping cream carton.

There ended up being roughly 27 contestants at the event, I placed somewhere in the middle, but I think given more practice I could totally knock this recipe out of the park.... if I ever decide to make a pie again, it was so much harder than I had anticipated.

Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood... Shortbread

A few years ago my dad bought me "Homecooking with Trisha Yearwood" it had been on my Amazon wishlist for awhile and I was really excited to get it.  It's beautiful and I love all the little personal tips and notes she has put into it. If I had a large enough coffee table, it would definitely be one of those books you leave out for guests to go through.  Anyway I've had it for years, but never got around to making any of the recipes, I love cook books, but typically don't use them. I don't know... weird quirk of mine I guess.

I happened to be looking through it yesterday, and saw this recipe and HAD TO MAKE it. HAD TO. I even went to the store to get the ingredients (even though most of them are staples in a baker's kitchen).  This is seriously the easiest cookie recipe I've ever made.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup self rising flour
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) room temperature
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and spray a 9in pie pan with cooking oil (I used coconut oil, but any spray should do).
• Mix all ingredients in an electric mixer until combined.  It doesn't get smooth, it's kind of grainy looking.
• Spread mixture evenly across the pie pan
• Bake for 25 minutes
• Allow to cool, then slice and serve.

I'm thinking this would be DELICIOUS if they were dipped/drizzled in chocolate and topped with fresh berries and homemade whipped cream, just make a whole decadent dessert of out it. I haven't tried that yet, but I can't see how it could possible go wrong.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

I found a recipe online for raspberry buttercream frosting and used strawberries instead. The only problem was that the recipe was too runny to frost the cupcakes with so we had to double the butter and God only knows how much powdered sugar was added.  I'm going to post the recipe as I made it originally, but make sure you have extra sugar and butter so you can bring it to your desired stiffness.

Ingredients:

•  1 pound powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup pureed strawberries

Directions:

beat the ingredients together, adding sugar and butter until mixed well and you have your desired consistency.  The finished product tastes like a strawberry milkshake and is delicious whether its topping a cupcake or straight out of the batter bowl

Cream Cheese Cherry Pie Crumb Bar

so one night this week my friend had an excess of tasty dessert treats (I'm not sure how that happens, will power that I don't have perhaps) and I picked them up on the way home (because again, not going to turn down free treats)... Oh.My.God. so worth the calories... these were amazing little squares of awesome. Try them at your own risk (to your waistline).

She found the recipe at Brown Eyed Baker and you can see the link to the recipe here. But for your baking convenience, and mine, I thought it would be great to post it here.

this photo is from the
Brown Eyed Baker's Site

INGREDIENTS:

For the Crumb:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg

For the Filling:
24 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 (21-ounce) cans cherry pie filling

For the Powdered Sugar Glaze (optional):
½ cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.

2. Make the Crumb: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter, and then the egg (the dough will be crumbly). Press half of dough into the prepared pan and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until light golden brown. Set on a wire rack to cool.

3. Make the Filling: In a separate large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Using an offset spatula, spread the cream cheese mixture into an even layer over the crust. Spoon the cherry pie filling in an even layer over the cream cheese mixture. Crumble the remaining dough evenly over the cherry layer.

4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the top is light golden brown. Cool completely before adding the glaze.

5. Make the Powdered Sugar Glaze (if using): In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, cream and vanilla extract. Add more cream if you want a thinner glaze, or more powdered sugar if you want a thicker glaze. Drizzle over the bars and allow to set.

6. The bars can be served at room temperature or chilled. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Death by Carrot Cake

My last post was the recipe for this cake, it is an old family recipe that my Aunt Josephine used to make. You can find it here if you want to try your hand at it yourself, it's delicious, and that's coming from someone who isn't especially fond of carrot cake.

Anyway, I had promised my boyfriend that I'd make him whatever cake he wanted (stupidly assuming he'd pick something super easy like chocolate cake) and he told me his favorite cake is carrot cake.  I popped off with "Awesome, I have an old family recipe that's been passed down for years, I haven't made it myself yet, but everyone really seems to like it, I'll make that."  I then went home, looked at the recipe, and panic ensued. I even called my mom so that she could virtually pat my head and tell me everything would be okay, that this cake was well within my skill levels.

Still the following thoughts wouldn't stop racing through my head:

1. While I have baked and decorated dozens of cakes over the years, I've never made one completely from scratch.  I always use a boxed cake mix as a base and doctor the recipe to get a homemade taste/texture.
2. This recipe in INVOLVED and has a TON of ingredients.
3. I would be baking in his kitchen which is known to have a VERY temperamental oven.
4. I have developed a reputation among friends and family of being THE BAKER, and he is well aware of it, he's known about my rep longer than he's known me.
5. Boyfriend is a culinary school graduate chef.

No pressure right?

So I packed up all my gear and took it to his house. Have Kitchen Aid (TM) will travel. Sunday morning dawned and I got up to get my inner kitchen goddess on, and learned right away that the oven did indeed suck balls.

First I couldn't get it to preheat to the temp I needed it to be, so I cranked the dial to 500, and it grudgingly raised to 350 (score, that's just where I wanted it), I flipped the dial to "bake" and the heat element turned off and the temperature dropped to 200 degrees. Fail.

Then while I was mixing all the ingredients, I realized when I got to the end on the instructions I still had a few ingredients that never made it into the bowl... turns out I skipped a couple lines on the recipe... anxiously called my mom, and again she virtually patted me on the head and told me it was fine, just put them in at the end. So if you do make the cake, order of operations isn't super important, it'll still turn out okay.

Back to the oven... I put it back on preheat, and figured that was fine... and popped the cake on the center rack, it wasn't 10 minutes later the kitchen is full of smoke (and only my nose detected it, not the smoke detector) and the top of the cake was black. I was really concerned because the cake was supposed to take 90 minutes to bake.  I rip it out of the oven and start poking around at it, nearly crying, but was hopeful when I discovered only the top 1/4 inch was charred. I started peeling off the blackened portion and sent the BF a frantic text about ruining the cake and hating his oven.  He gave me some pointers and left work to come to my rescue (or maybe his shift was over and he was on his way anyway, I like to think he was concerned for my mental health and raced home).

Meanwhile, I went all Swatter Ninja and started killing the hoard of flies that had infiltrated the house over the weekend. It was a way to be productive and to take out my frustration all at the same time. Plus who likes to be in a house full of flying insects? Not me. I also took a pumice stone to the bathtub and got all the bachelor pad grit off. What? When I'm stressed I obsessively clean things. I blame my mother, she does the same thing.  

Turns out I should have been using the bottom oven, not the top... and once I had the cake in the right place (who knew?) everything turned out fine.  I won't lie and tell you that I didn't at least once or twice fantasize about tossing the entire cake, pan and all out into the street and just watch it roll down the hill... maybe get hit by the neighbor's truck and splat everywhere. There were a few dark moments.

Luckily, once the cake was baked, cooled, and frosted it was DELICIOUS and a big hit with everyone who tried it.  So it was completely worth the struggles I faced making it.  I would definitely make it again, just maybe in someone else's oven, or you know, just use the functional oven now that I know which one it is.

This may not have been the prettiest cake I've ever made, but the fact that I made it from scratch, burned part of it, and that it still came out awesome (tasting)... it really might be the one I'm most proud of.

Aunt Josphine's Carrot Cake

Aunt Josephine’s Carrot Cake

Cake Ingredients:
• 3 Cups Packed Shredded Carrots
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple drained (save juice)

• 3 cups unsifted all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
• 5 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1 cup chopped raisins 
Frosting Ingredients:
• ½ cup Butter
• 1 Box Powdered Sugar
• 8 Ounces Cream Cheese
• 4 Tablespoons pineapple juice


Directions:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Grease and flour cake pan
• Combine carrots and lemon juice in small bowl
• Squeeze as much juice as possible from pineapple
• Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, & allspice in bowl.
• Beat in oil until blended
• Mix in carrots
• Beat eggs in one at a time
• Stir in vanilla, coconut, nuts, raisins, and pineapple until well blended
• Pour batter into prepared pan
• Bake 1 1/2 hours or until cake springs back from sides of pan
• Cool cake on wire rack for 5 minutes 
• Remove from pan and cool
• Beat together all frosting ingredients until smooth and cover top of cake when cooled.


SIDE NOTE:  I chopped some of the left over walnuts from the bag and toasted coconut to top the cake, I think it was one of the best decisions (baking wise) I've ever made... it was AMAZING and possibly my favorite part of eating it. 

Oreo Buttercream Frosting

My grandmother's 81st birthday was this weekend, and my mom wanted it to be potluck style.  I was assigned to bring the birthday cake, which is awesome, because if I'm bringing anything to a potluck type party I want to bring desserts or an appetizer, I'm not usually too stoked on bringing a main course if I don't have to.  Grandma requested a chocolate cake, and the rest was left to my imagination.  I used a Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake box mix, but instead of using oil, I used butter, and instead of water, I used milk, and added a packet of chocolate instant pudding mix. These substitutions help the box cakes taste more homemade.  I wanted to do something different with the frosting than chocolate or vanilla, and I remembered the MOST AMAZING cupcake I had in Los Angeles, at a cupcakery called Crumbs, a few years back and it had a cookies and cream frosting.  I wanted to see if I could do something similar, so off to Google my fingers ran, until  I found the recipe that I was able to slightly modify to make the best frosting I've had in my whole life.  The original can be found here. 

This is the recipe I used (nearly identical to the link)

• 1 cup softened butter
• 3.5 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 cup finely crushed/packed Oreo pieces (I ground them up in the food processor, about a sleeve and a half of the regular Oreos )

·         Cream the butter for a few minutes until it is light (I had to stop the mixer a couple of times to clear the whisk beater)

·         Sift in the powdered sugar (I just dumped it in, couldn’t find the sifter, didn’t seem to make a difference)

·         Beat until entirely combined with the butter

·         Add vanilla and milk, beat for 3 minutes

·         Add crushed Oreos and mix well to combine

**add more milk to gain a thinner consistency, more sugar and/or Oreos to thicken

It was a complete hit... however, if I were to make it again I'd want to double the recipe. This was just enough to cover the cake, and I didn't have enough ingredients to make more to pipe on decorations to have a more finished look.

Chunky Monkey Cupcakes

Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey Ice Cream inspired this cupcake recipe (with the help of some Duncan Hines cake mix).  I made it a few years ago for a super bowl party and even though they were a hit, I haven't made them since.

The occasion for these tasty treats is my best friend's baby shower this weekend, and I've been salivating since I decided these would be the cupcake for the event.

Ingredients:

• 1 Box Duncan Hines Banana Cake Mix
• 1 Package Banana flavored Instant Pudding
• 1 Cup Milk
• 3 Large Eggs
• 1/3 Cup Butter
• 3/4 Cup Walnuts
• 3/4 
• Chocolate Chips (I prefer milk chocolate, but if you're planning on being true to the B&J's flavor, dark or semi sweet chips are more accurate)
• Vanilla or Butter-cream Frosting
• Banana Chips (for decoration)

Directions:

• Preheat oven 350 degrees for a metal pan, 325 for a dark or coated pan, grease sides with shortening or oil spray, or use baking cups for cupcakes
• blend cake mix, instant pudding, chocolate chips, walnuts (so that the nuts and chips are coated in the dry mix, they won't sink as much while baking if this is done first).
• add milk, eggs, and melted butter until all ingredients are well mixed, about 2 minutes.
• pour batter into pan/baking cups
• bake 15-18 minutes
• cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes
• cool completely before frosting.
• melt some chocolate chips and then dip the banana chips in melted chocolate, set aside on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper until chocolate sets

Butter-Cream Frosting

Store-bought frosting is quick and easy if you don't have time to make your own, but if you do, you won't regret it, this frosting is delicious, I've used it on cakes, cupcakes, cut out cookies... you name it... if it is something to be frosted, this one will not disappoint. 

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup soft butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
• 2 tablespoons milk
• Food coloring of choice

Directions:

• Blend butter and sugar
• Stir in vanilla and milk
• Beat until frosting is smooth and spreadable

Trade Secrets:

Brown or Black Icing?

For brown icing melt unsweetened chocolate and mix into white icing

For black icing, add black gel coloring to brown icing, you’ll use less black coloring and the frosting will taste like chocolate

Dark Red Icing?

Make the icing a day ahead of time, the dark pink will darken over time and turn red if you give it 24 hours, also can use maraschino cherry juice as a liquid, will turn the icing pink and you can use less red food coloring.

Martha Stewart's Chewy Cherry Chunk Cookies

a few years back my mom found this recipe on www.marthastewart.com and they've been a hit ever since, I logged onto her site today and saw that the recipe has slightly changed from the one I'm about to post.  I'm sure the new version is delicious but this is the one I made.







Makes between 10 large or 36 small cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup dried cherries (I cut them in half)
1 stick unsalted softened butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional... I chose not to use them)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees with one rack in top third and bottom rack in bottom third of oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine:
• butter
• brown sugar
• granulated sugar
• Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy (roughly 2 minutes)
• Scrape down sides of the bowl, add
• egg
• vanilla extract
• Beat to combine, add
• flour
• baking soda
• salt
• Once combined, add
• cherries
• white chocolate
• milk chocolate
• pecans
• Batter should be stiff
• Use large (2 1/2 ounce) or small ( 1 1/4 ounce) ice cream scoop (I used the medium sized Pampered Chef batter scoop) to form balls of dough about 4 inches apart on a baking sheet (I was able to fit nine per sheet).
• Bake until golden and just set, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even browning (I found 7 minutes on each rack was perfect), the recipe itself says 12 minutes for small cookies, 15 for large.
• Transfer sheets to a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring cookies to rack.
• Store in an airtight container, recipe says they'll last a week... but I think they'll be long gone before the week is up.
• Transfer sheets

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbsp. milk

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. double acting baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup Coach's Oats

1 cup shredded coconut (I toasted mine, 10 min, 350 degree oven, stirring frequently, until golden brown)

1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugars for about 30 seconds.

Beat in egg, vanilla, and milk.

Mix just until smooth

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Add the dry with the wet ingredients and beat, be careful not to overmix.

Add oats, coconut, and white chocolate chips.

Beat until combined.

Drop by rounded teaspoon (or medium sized cookie scoop) onto ungreased cookie sheet (I always prepare my cookie sheets by putting parchment paper on them, and dropping the dough onto the paper, less mess and no sticking).

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

The recipe I used/modified (from the container of Coach's Oats) said that it would make about 3 dozen cookies, with the cookie scoop I used, it made about 2 dozen.  The original recipe did not call for white chocolate or macadamia nuts, and did not toast the coconut.

Favorite Cobbler Ever

I love love love berry cobblers, apple cobblers, peach cobblers, shoe cobblers, sensing a pattern yet? Anyway, this is another one of my mom's famous dessert recipes that never fails to please a crowd of sweet tooths. Hope your family enjoys it as much as mine.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup cobbler
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar *
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup milk
• 2 cups fruit (your choice)
• 1 cup sugar

Directions:

• Melt butter in 10 inch baking dish
• Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and milk
• Spoon over melted butter
• Heat fresh or canned fruit with sugar adjusting less sugar if fruit is canned
• Pour over dough

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown

Crust will rise to top

Serve warm or cold 

* use ½ cup brown sugar and ½ cup sugar if using apples

Lucious Lemon Cake

 

This recipe has been in the family for years, a neighbor of my grandparents used to make it when I was little and then my grandmother and other relatives started making it too. It's pretty much a staple to most family celebrations on my dad's side of the family. When in doubt? Lemon cake wins the bout. Or something like that.

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow cake mix or lemon cake mix
• 4 eggs
• ¾ cup oil
• ¾ cup water
• 1 3-ounce package lemon Jell-O 

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Grease and flour 9x13” pan
• Combine above ingredients; mix well
• Bake according to package instructions

Glaze

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
• ¾ cup lemon juice 

Directions:

• Combine ingredients and mix until smooth
• Pour glaze onto cake while cake is still hot
• Poke holes in cake after glaze is on.

Mama Maltagliati's Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are my favorite chocolate chip cookies. EVER. I have so many great memories of making these with my mom, and finally being old enough to be left alone in the kitchen and making them myself. I won't lie there have been many occasions where I've made them just to eat the dough (I'm a rebel like that) and then only bake what's left out of guilt.

Ingredients:

• 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter softened (do not substitute)
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 12-ounce package milk chocolate chocolate chips (my favorite are Nestle, I haven't liked how they've turned out as much with other brands).
• 1 6-ounce package mini chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
• In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt… set aside
• In a large bowl, combine butter, sugars, and vanilla; beat until creamy
• Beat in eggs
• Gradually add flour mixture; mix well
• Stir in chips and nuts
• Drop rounded level measuring tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets (I usually line my cookie sheets with parchment paper, no stick and super easy clean up)
• Bake 9 minutes