Bummer Baker Sueshine Makes Cookies

I have to admit....I can't always be a ray of Sueshine all the time. It's in my nature to be an optimist but we all hit a wall head on sometimes and get a little bummed. I haven't been sleeping well for the past few days due to the weird San Diego weather (yes, we have another weather setting other than 75 and sunny). My regular 9-5  job has also been stressful and stress can wear you down to the point of wanting to crawl back under the covers and hiding from the world for the rest of the day. So when I got home, I made dinner, cracked open a bottle of red wine, and parked my butt on the couch to sulk.


Me: *sigh*
Scott: It's Bummer Baker Suzy...


I hate being in a foul mood and whenever the Mister calls me Bummer Baker Suzy, it makes me hate my "poor me." attitude. What could cheer me up other than another glass of wine? Baking. But what? I certainly didn't want to go out to the grocery store to get ingredients. What did I have in the house. Ahhh the staples....everything to make my diabetic friendly chocolate chip cookies :) A long time ago, my mom started making chocolate chip cookies as holiday gifts for everyone and they always commented on how good her cookies were. I'll tell you the secret to my mom's amazing cookies....she makes it with care and patience (I'm DEAD SERIOUS)....cause really, my mom's cookie recipe is actually just the Toll House cookie recipe (Ooooh I might be getting the Filipino flip flop for revealing her secret! (O.o) hehehe!) But seriously, my mom would tell people it was the Toll House recipe and they would NEVER believe her because they were so heavy and dense and theirs would be flat and slightly burnt. So when Scott started bugging me for sugar-free chocolate chip cookies and I couldn't find a ready made cookie dough tube or mix, I decided that I had to learn to make it from scratch and why not use my mom's "secret" recipe and adjust it slightly. Believe me, it took me a couple of tries to get this right so I encourage that you experiment and adjust to make your cookies taste the way you like them. So here we go:


Filipino Mom's "Secret" Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

(Sueshine Notes regarding ingredients: I usually cut back on the amount of salt to half and sometimes leave it out all together. I also cannot stress enough that you must use unsalted butter for this recipe or you WILL end up with salt cookies. I would recommend just adding the nuts to cut the sweetness of this recipe but that too is optional)

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated Splenda
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 bag of Hershey's Sugar Free chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

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.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. (Sueshine Note: I like my cookies with crispy edges and soft centers so I aim more towards 12 minutes. Adjust to your oven. Also, invest in a wire rack if you like making cookies. I use to think my mom was crazy to have wire racks...I don't get the purpose. Listen to your Filipino mom....she knows what the heck she's doing. I now know why you use wire racks for cooling)

Store your cookies in an air tight container so they stay soft and yummy.....if they even last that long. In the end, when my house smelled like sweet noms, I was still sitting on the couch but I had a warm cookie in one hand, a cup of cold milk in the other, (a VERY happy husband at the other end of the couch "You're AWESOME!"), and a smile on my face. Happy Sueshine -->  :)