The Simple and Easy Secret to Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

It always makes us laugh when famous chefs or food magazines make a convoluted and difficult task out of chocolate chip cookies.

When Tim was in the Army and a package of chocolate chip cookies came in the mail, everybody on the squad gathered around and begged to be treated to some of his mother's cookies. Now, we all think our mothers are great cooks (well almost all of us), but when it comes to chocolate chip cookies, Ella's always got rave reviews.

Her secret was so simple, you're gonna laugh and then say, "it can't make that much of a difference." But her secret makes great and perfect chocolate chip cookies, and she passed it on to Tim. We have a neighbor who won't let us come to dinner unless Tim brings his chocolate chip cookies for dessert. We're not kidding, people love these cookies.

Here's the secret: Use the recipe on the Nestle's semi-sweet chocolate chip bag for Toll House Cookies, but make one major ingredient change. Instead of the 1 cup (16 Tbs.) of butter, substitute the same amount of Crisco Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening Sticks (1 stick).

You're probably thinking: Why substitute something not quite natural for something good like butter? Well, first it has a lot less saturated fat — 50% less — and no trans fats. But more importantly, it makes for a more substantial, and better tasting, cookie.

Butter tends to be greasy, and the cookies flatten too much. With the Crisco sticks, the cookies stay puffy and by watching the time in the oven, you can make them ultra-chewy or crisp and very crunchy.

We also don't over chop the nuts. We leave them on the big side, and we make fewer cookies per batch by making them bigger — 2 heaping Tablespoons per cookie. So you get about 20-24 cookies per recipe.

For chewy cookies, take them out of the oven at 12 minutes while they still look just a bit too soft. For crisp, crunchy cookies, leave them in another two or three minutes, but don't let the bottoms burn.

Serve these perfect chocolate chip cookies hot and you'll have friends and family begging you to make more.