Cookie Dough Days

“If Everybody had an ocean, across the U.S.A.  Then everybody'd be surfin’, like Californi-a.  You’d seem 'em wearing their baggies, huarachi sandals too.  A bushy bushy blonde hairdo, surfin’ U.S.A.” blares through the radio while the wiring of the kitchen aid matches the pitch and rhythm and mom's favorite music.  

First, Mom and I start with the sugar, because everyone knows that sugar is always the first ingredient of anything worth while making or enjoying.  Next, we blend in the butter.  But, we don’t just blend in the butter.  We blend. In. The. Butter.  

Never before has a ten year old blonde young girl and her hard working mother blended the butter so thoroughly.  The blending mattered.  If a smooth consistency when the eggs are added can be attained, the cookie dough is perfect.  If the blending was half-hearted, the cookie dough is nearly worthless.  

"Everybody's gone surfin' Surfin' U.S.A." continues to fill the kitchen with the perfect karoke backdrop.

The next steps finally included adding all of the dry ingredients, and was the most precarious step of all.  If the machine was pressed to the max, if the knob was pushed all the way, a Kitchen Aid is notorious for spewing flour all over the counters, the floor and the kitchen sink.  

But a ten year old little girl, especially a little blonde was willing to slide that knob all the way to the back.  Everyone knows, this part is the most fun.  Four cups of flour barely fit in the mixer anyway, but if I could see the dust rise all the way to the ceiling, the radius of my smile would match.  And the grin on my face when I added each cup, one after the other was adventurous.  I was adventurous.   Doubling the recipe was adventurous.  Flour dusted up out of the bowl, and like a wave crashing upon the sand left an imprint.  An impressive amount still remained inside of the 4.5 quart stainless steel mixing bowl.  

"We'll all be planning that route
We're gonna take real soon
We're waxing down our surfboards
We can't wait for June
We'll all be gone for the summer
We're on surfari to stay
Tell the teacher we're surfin'
Surfin' U.S.A."

The storage for the mixer is my favorite part of the kitchen because it’s perfectly hidden.  I don’t have to remove the mixer from the counter top, but just slide it to the left, and it’s still plugged in, inside of the cabinet.  It was the indication that you had made it in the world, that your kitchen was the grand enough, that you owned the 4.5 quart version and you had a place to store the mixer.    

A kitchen is not complete without a Kitchen Aid, and a Kitchen Aid is only christened after it has been used to make chocolate chip cookies while dancing to the Beach Boys on a Sunday afternoon.  Because once the flour settles and the butter and sugar came together in a smooth, delicious ball of dough, our Sunday night reached pure perfection with sugar, butter, and chocolate chips.  

Original Toll House Cookie Recipe

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-ounce package) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 cup chopped nuts (Optional. If omitting, add 1 to 2 Tbsp. of all-purpose flour.)

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Step 2

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Step 3

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

For High Altitude Baking (5,200 feet):

Increase flour to 2 1/2 cups. Add 2 teaspoons water with flour and reduce both granulated sugar and brown sugar to 2/3 cup each. Bake drop cookies for 8 to 10 minutes and pan cookie for 17 to 19 minutes.

Article by Sarah Ziroll - August 8, 2024

Hi!  I'm Sarah, a birth coach at Birth Made Mindful, musician, wife and mother, raising boys who are 7,4 and 2. I love making everything a bit more exciting with over the top DIY projects.  My life's mission is to infect others with happiness and radiate positivity.  Dedication, Diligence and Determination are three words I strive to live by!  I am a yellow personality and a social butterfly.