Perfectly Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was a young girl, 5 or 6 perhaps, with my head full of whimsical fantasies and my tummy full of chocolate milk and nutter butters. I was splashing in the steps of the pool, a sparkly pink tutu around my waist, a glittering tiara resting on my tangled hair, and a magical wand in my little, dimply hand. Dad was watching me from a lawn chair, apparently deep in thought.



"Yammie," he said, smiling, "what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Without hesitation I answered, "A ballerina princess."

Dad chuckled. "Yammie, you know you can't be a princess unless your parents are a king and queen or you marry a prince."

"What??" I thought in my head, "Marry a prince? I'll never grow up old enough to get married. Besides, there aren't princes around here. They all live in that place where the pilgrims came from."

But I kept my head held high. "I don't mean that kind of princess." I said vaguely. 


Nonetheless, that was the day my dreams of being a ballerina princess were crushed. Now I have much more realistic dreams and aspirations, like having my own show on Food Network.

Today is my little cousin's ballet recital. She probably has the same dreams as the young Yammie did. But I won't crush them as Dad crushed mine. She can be a ballerina princess if she wants. And what do ballerina princesses eat? Yes, you guessed it: chocolate chip cookies. So, to fuel her princessiness and enhance the after-party (which will involve cookie devouring horde of relatives), I have baked up the best batch of chocolate chip cookies to date.

Okay, okay, I know everybody says their chocolate chip cookies are the best, but these really are. They are chewy and moist on the inside with a nice crispy edge. Plus they are bursting with the most wonderful flavors.

Now, if you are not acquainted with graham flour, I suggest you get acquainted.
Like... now. This is very important, people. It's that wonderful. It's basically white flour and whole wheat flour mixed together. The white part of the flour is ground fine and then the rest is ground coarsely, so it has the nicest texture. Obviously it is what graham crackers are made of, and who doesn't like the taste of graham crackers? Crazy people, that's who. Graham crackers are delicious.

Since these cookies are made with some graham flour and they also happen to have big chunks of Hershey bars in them, I highly recommend that you sandwich them together with giant marshmallows for some delicious s'more cookies. Sadly, I had no giant marshmallows, but I will probably be doing this in the near future, so stay tuned.

Perfectly Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup softened cream cheese
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup pancake syrup (like Mrs.Butterworth's or Aunt Jemima's)
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups cake flour
2/3 cup graham flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped milk chocolate Hershey bars or any other fine baking chocolate of your choice (Hershey's is fine baking chocolate, yes?)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chunks)

Preheat the oven to 375º.
Beat together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the brown sugar and beat for about five minutes. Add the syrup, vanilla, and egg and beat until smooth.
Mix together the flours, soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Mix in the chocolate chips and chunks.
Scoop large scoops onto a cookie sheet and bake for 8-11 minutes or until desired doneness is reached. For me it made about 1 1/2 dozen, I think (I would double check on that, but I have no idea how many were devoured).

P.S. They have passed the test. They still remain chewy the next day.

Few things bring joy to my soul like the sight of a pudgy, little hand dunking a big, gooey, chocolate chip cookie in milk