Sue Peake's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Method

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Mix shortening, butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla thoroughly. Stir in remaining ingredients. For a softer, rounder cookie, add 1/2 cup flour. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly before removing from baking sheet. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.
2. Now for my comments on how I alter the recipe:
3. Use butter, not margarine.
4. Whip the "wet" ingredients for at least five minutes, sometimes up to 15 minutes, with an electric mixer. The batter becomes very light and fluffy. Fold the dry ingredients into the batter with a spoon - don't use the mixer.
5. Then add the chocolate morsels.
6. Line the cookie sheets with aluminum foil.
7. Using two teaspoons, one to scoop and one to push the cookie dough on to the cookie sheet, place twelve heaping teaspoons of dough onto each foil-lined cookie sheet.
8. Increase the oven temperature by 25 degrees, to 400°F). Bake the cookies for 8 minutes.
9. After the cookies have baked, lift the aluminum foil, with cookies, from the cookie sheet and place them on the counter to cool slightly, then remove the cookies from the foil to a cooling rack to cool completely.
10. Finally, place the cooled cookies very carefully into a "Charles Cookie" tin.
11. Enjoy!!!
12. Once David had Sue's chocolate chip cookies, he didn't want mine. He raved about these cookies for years. Sue finally joined David's department and I asked for her recipe. Now I make these and everyone loves them. My High school Religious Ed students devour them! I think the trick is whipping the wet ingredients for so long.