*Click HERE to print the recipe!
Hi friends! I’m so glad you found yesterday’s Black Friday Sales Now post helpful! Are y’all getting reading excited for Thanksgiving?! I am!
I’ll be hosting my mom and brother at my house for Thanksgiving on Thursday, so now the countdown is on! Thankfully, my sis-n-law Jessica is splitting the cooking duties with me and she is always ON IT when it comes to planning these things. She wrote out our menu on the Notes app on her phone and sent it to me- I had no idea you could edit Notes! Super cool!
One thing that will definitely be on the menu is Rhonda’s Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are literally the BEST chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had and everyone who has had them or made them agrees!
They have a soft chewy texture with crisper edges and are filled with extra chips (regular size and minis). The recipe also calls for 1/2 cup unsalted butter and 1/2 cup crisco. No wonder they are so good! You also have to watch how long you bake them, they’ll look underdone when you pull them out of the oven, but they’ll continue baking and be absolutely PERFECT!
RHONDA’S CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
I warn you- these cookies are dangerous! I literally cannot stop eating them! The full recipe is at the bottom of this post, but I thought it would be fun (and helpful) if we got Rhonda herself to make them and she shared her pro tips along the way!
But first, we had to put on cute aprons to add to the fun! Ali-Shaun gifted Rhonda the Nutcracker Apron last Christmas. And my apron is several years old, but I found one similar here.
We were already cracking up before we got started! I love having such good girlfriends in my life! Make sure you come back Thanksgiving night because I’ll be sharing a huge Black Friday post with Ali-Shaun and Rhonda in the dressing room!
Cookie Scoop • Holiday Spatulas • Cookie Spatula
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup Crisco (I use the Crisco sticks instead of the can)
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 (heaping) teaspoon of vanilla
- 1 (heaping) teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups All-Purpose flour
- 1 box INSTANT vanilla pudding
- 1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips (we used dark chocolate here & it was delicious)
- 1/2 bag of semi sweet chocolate minis
One of Rhonda’s main tips is to NOT scimp on the salt and vanilla. She adds a heaping teaspoon of both to these cookies.
She also uses a big measuring cup to measure out the the flour, brown sugar and sugar so she doesn’t dirty extra measuring cups. I thought that was genius!
I let Rhonda do the work while I recorded so I could upload and share the video tutorial on Stories.
Rhonda always use a Kitchen Aid mixer to mix the dough with the paddle attachment. You guys! I’m the biggest dummy! I’ve been using the whisk attachment all this time!
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To help clean the sides of the bowl use a rubber spatula. How cute are these spatulas for the holidays?! Once you’ve mixed all the ingredients together, your cookie dough will look like this:
don’t mind me . . .
Rhonda bakes her cookies with these Air Bake cookie sheets. The idea is that there is a layer of air in between the metal sheet so the cookies don’t overbake in the oven. You can fit 12 cookies per baking sheet. She uses the nonstick foil on her cookie sheet since it makes cleanup easier.
But, she says you don’t need the foil if you don’t mind the cleaning step.
Her all-time favorite tool for the perfect cookie shape every time is this cookie scoop. She never bakes without it and even took it overseas with her when her family spent several years living in China.
While Rhonda is peeking at the cookies in the oven, don’t mind me . . .
Underbaking is key! You want the edges of your cookies to be barely brown. Most ovens take about 11 minutes to bake these at 375 degrees.
She likes the cookies to sit on the foil until cool, but if she’s in a hurry, she uses this cookie spatula to transfer to a baking rack for cooling.
You can store leftover cookie dough in the freezer for future use. Just use the cookie scoop to scoop out the portions and lay them in a freezer ziploc bag. Lay them at first in your freezer until they freeze a bit so they don’t stick together. Then you can lift the bag for them to come together for easier storage.
Rhonda keeps the baked cookies in an airtight container like this one so they don’t go stale. You can also store them in the refrigerator.
I’m so glad I actually got to see Rhonda make these cookies because I picked up a few tips I didn’t realize before! And I’m definitely getting that cookie scoop!
I promise you will be a hit if you bring these cookies to Thanksgiving dinner this year. Rhonda’s own kids won’t even eat any other kind!
And for Christmas, they’d be great to make with your kids and leave them out for santa with this cute plate and mug.
RHONDA’S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE:
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup Crisco (I use the Crisco sticks instead of the can)
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 (heaping) teaspoon of vanilla
- 1 (heaping) teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups All-Purpose flour
- 1 box INSTANT vanilla pudding
- 1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 bag of semi sweet chocolate minis
Instructions:
Set oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter and Crisco together with sugars until creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Add in the vanilla, salt, and baking soda. I like to add in a little extra salt when I bake with chocolate so my teaspoon is not exact. It is a SMALL teaspoon mound if that makes sense. But be careful, too much salt can ruin the taste.
Next add in the vanilla pudding powder and the flour. Stir in your chocolate chips.
Once the oven is preheated, place cookies in Tablespoon full mounds on a cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes depending on your oven. Some ovens have quicker bake times. The key is to under bake the cookies! This keeps them chewy. Take them out when they are no longer glossy in the middle and the edges are barely brown. You will think they aren’t done. Let them cool on the cookie sheet so they continue to bake a little.
I think they are best fresh from the oven. Store the leftovers in air tight container so they don’t go stale. ENJOY!
**Subscribe to my blog to get a PRINTABLE VERSION of this recipeand my entire printable library. If you’re alreadysubscribed, look for a link to my printables library in the HWH Weekend Edition on Saturday.
Thank you so, so much Rhonda for sharing your cookie recipe with us and for all the insider pro tips! If you make these cookies, we’d love you to share by tagging me @honeywerehome ! 🙂
Shop Rhonda’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
Have a great day friends!
