I have this really awesome chocolate chip cookie recipe. My kids get requests from classmates at potlucks for my cookies. Soldiers have been known to request these cookies. They sell out at every bake sale. Want the recipe?

For two years I participated in the Canadian version of an Adopt-A-Soldier program. I’d get the name and address of a Canadian soldier serving in Afghanistan, and would send care packages over. I corresponded with 4 different soldiers over their 6month tours. At first, I sent over traditional care package items – but the soldiers were always reluctant to say if they needed or wanted anything from home. They always said the military provided them with everything they needed. So I started sending cookies over. I’d get email – ‘Loved the cookies. Please send more. All the guys love them.’ A week later – ‘Are you sending more cookies? The guys keep asking me about them.’  I stopped sending care packages, and just sent cookies. Over time, I perfected this one recipe so that the cookies remained fresh when they arrived in Afghanistan.

I don’t know where this recipe came from, it’s not a family recipe. It was one my mom had – where she got it I don’t know. I make them at least once a week, sometimes twice a week. My kids call them Soldier Cookies because I was always making extra batches and throwing them in the freezer for the soldiers – and then they complained that the soldier cookies were better than the ones I made for them. So now I just make cookies one way for everybody.

Here’s the recipe:

Soldier Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1cup of shortening or margarine (there is a difference in taste)
1/2cup of granulated sugar
1cup of brown sugar
1tsp of vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups of all purpose flour (adjust for humidity)
1tsp baking soda
few sprinkles of salt
1cup of chocolate chips (add more if desired)

Instructions – blend the first 3 ingredients, add vanilla and eggs. Mix flour, baking soda and salt – add to blended mixture. Add chocolate chips. This is actually the original recipe doubled (but I explain why below) and it makes almost 3 dozen cookies.

Because it could take up to 2weeks for cookies to get to Afghanistan via Canadian Forces mail (you can send packages free with content restrictions), I picked up a few extra baking tips.

I adjust the amount of flour by as much as half a cup depending on the season and humidity. I add more flour if the sugar granules crunch between my teeth.  The dough shouldn’t be wet but the flour should all blend in, more like dough than batter. In a pinch I’ve substituted part of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour and no one’s noticed. I bake them for 10 minutes, but every oven is a little different. I watch for when the edges of the cookies just begin to turn brown and the very centers are still a little gooey.

I make my cookies slightly larger than normal size drop cookies (hence the larger recipe), because larger cookies stay soft longer than small ones. I pull them out slightly under-baked and let them finish cooking as they cool on the pan, and they stay soft longer this way. I also slightly increased the amount of baking soda in the recipe which is supposed to help the cookies stay soft longer. Fresh out of the oven, they are gooey and melt in your mouth soft. So good. They rarely last more than a day at my house.

To keep them fresh, as soon as the chocolate stops melting I pop them in sealed baggies (like Ziploc) and they stay gooey for days. If you try this recipe – let me know how it works out.

Do you have a recipe that people request at potlucks, family gatherings, or school functions?

Lisa

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