Recipe > The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie

The title really says it all. I found this recipe on a blog a few months ago and decided I should try it out.

I have always been horrible at making chocolate chip cookies. The last time I made them they so bad Zack wouldn't eat them. They were so flat, greasy, and an ugly brown color. Zack didn't eat one of them he was too scared over what they looked like. When I saw how these cookies turned out I thought that I wouldn't be able to do it, but all that changed and I made the best chocolate chip cookie ever.

Don't they just look divine? I have never had my cookies look this good and I am so glad that I found this recipe. The secret is to make sure that the cookie is taller than it is wide. Here is what I did

I made sure that that the bottom of the cookie was flat so that it wouldn't topple over or anything. The picture from above is the way the cookie turned out so I promise this recipe is really good. 

Ingredients:

2 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, spoon and leveled

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg +1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 bag chocolate chip cookies

Directions:

1. Combine flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, combine butter (make sure it is melted! I put mine in the microwave for about 30 seconds to make sure it was melted), brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg & egg yolk, and vanilla with a whisk. 

3. Combine wet and dry ingredients together in the large bowl. I used a hand mixer to make sure the ingredients were all mixed in together really well but you can easily mix it together with a large spoon. Make sure the ingredients are blended well. 

4. Cover the cookie dough and chill for 1.5 to 2 hours. Chilling is a must. 

5. Take the dough out of the fridge and let is sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or grease the sheets. 

7. Roll the dough into balls, as seen above, making sure that they are taller then they are wide. Mine ended up looking like an egg which turned out fine. Just make sure and flatten the bottom so that they don't topple over. Put about 8 cookies on each baking sheet. You may need more than two baking sheets. 

8. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes. DO NOT GO OVER 12 MINUTES. The cookies will look mushy and not baked at all, however if you go over they will become too crisp. Pull the sheet out and let the cookies cool for about 10 minutes. The cookies continue baking on the sheet even out of the oven. 

9. After they have cooled, make sure and grab a glass of milk and enjoy some one on one time with the best chocolate chip cookie ever. 

Disneyland Trip Part 2: Tips and Tricks, + Food

I know I said I would do a three part post to our Disneyland trip but I decided to combine the food and tips and tricks into one post. This might be a little long but will be full of really helpful and useful information. Everyday of the trip Zack and I would get to the park within the first hour of it opening. If you want to be crazy you line up an hour before the park opens, go through bag check and then wait at the gates for them to scan your ticket. Security has brought it up a notch and they take your picture with your ticket now so you have to get there early your first day so you aren't held back trying to get your pictures taken for all of your party. What is really fun is they usually  choose a family to "open the park" every day. This family does the count down from 10 to 1 then yells "Let the magic begin". As soon as they say that the rest of the park is open and everybody gets to go line up inside the roped off section at the end of main street. Its really fun and if you have bright smiling kids and you look happy they usually choose you.
We got chosen our third day there and we loved it! They gave us Minnie Mouse Christmas ears to wear and the men got reindeer Christmas ears. It was so cute.

This was the day we opened the park. Its a really great opportunity because nobody else is in the park so you can take a picture with the mickey mouse that is made out of flowers and nobody will be in it. After that we went and got Zack a 1st visit button. At the town hall on main street they have buttons for all occasions, anniversary, just married, 1st visit, birthday, etc. The birthday ones are especially fun because they write your name on the button and then everyone will wish you happy birthday through out the day. My sisters and I did that and it always made people happy. Also the anniversary buttons are great because they will give you special treatment sometimes, like getting your own boat on Pirates of the Caribbean or Its a Small World, and sometimes they will put you at the front of the line if its a slow day. So if you are going for a special trip make sure and grab a button, everyone will love it. Plus other members of your party can get a "I'm Celebrating" button so everyone feels included. 

Don't be afraid to go in the rain. On Thursday when we were there the crowds were so small that we rode 20 rides in one day. My family rode 25 rides but Zack and I didn't hang out with them all day so we only got 20 rides in. That is a lot. We rode Radiator Springs Racers two times that day and it was great. So make sure you go to the park even if its rainy because the lines are so short and you can practically walk onto any ride you want to. The longest we waited that day was 20 minutes at Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land. Cars Land has a lot of cool stuff. Mater's Junk Yard Jamboree is one of my favorite rides at Disneyland now, its so fun. You can get some great buttons at Flo's Cafe, Sarges store, Mater's Junk Yard Jamboree ride, and Red the fire truck. You have to answer some questions about the movie Cars but they give you the button after you answer the questions. That is a great collection to have. 

Also in Cars Land around 5:30 they light up the street which is so cute and fun, at Christmas time it was decorated with trees and garlands and Flos cafe looks so awesome at night so make sure you stop by Cars Land in the evening time at least once during your trip. 

Speaking of lighting, they have Christmas trees up in both DCA and Disneyland so make sure and take a cute picture by at least one of the trees. Above is the tree that is in DCA. Below is the tree in Disneyland. We took a picture in front of it sometime but I don't know where it is. 

Both are beautiful and look great at night. Another fun tip is that there are some fortune tellers in Disneyland that will tell your fortune for a quarter. There is Fortune Red, Esmeralda, and The shrunken head (I think his name is ted or ned but I'm not sure). Here is my fortune I got from Fortune Red who is located just across the walkway from Cafe Orleans: 

Pretty classy. It really makes a great souvenir. Speaking of Cafe Orleans lets talk about food! 

I love the food at Disneyland. It is so delicious. We ate at Cafe Orleans one day and it was so delicious. I ordered the Salmon Sandwich:

Can you say yum! It was so delicious. It had salmon, bacon and came with sweet potato fries. Best lunch ever. Zack got the Monte Cristo Sandwich, equally as yummy: 

Its a sandwich inside a scone, he really liked it. Cafe Orleans is a little pricey so save it for a date night with just you and your sweetheart if you don't think the kids will enjoy such a fancy place. We tried a new place this trip the Stage Door Cafe which is right next to the Golden Horseshoe. It was really good and they had chicken tenders there. It was only $10.00 a plate so this is a good stop for the entire family. We really like the Mexican restaurant outside of the Indiana Jones ride. Its pretty good, I forgot the name of it, but you can look it up when you get to Disneyland. I really enjoy eating there. We also ate at Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney has a lot of really good places to eat at and Rainforest is one of my fave. I ordered the fajitas and they were delicious. 

Another fun thing is that Disneyland has all sorts of shows, concerts, etc for you to enjoy. This worked out well as we rode most of the rides we wanted to on Thursday and Friday and then Monday and Tuesday we could check out the concerts. My husband really liked the Mad T. Party in DCA, which is a concert with Alice and the Mad Hatter. There was a Beatles tribute band that played on Monday night and they were so good. Zack and I could have listened to them all night, it was at the Tomorrowland Terrace in Disneyland. 

Make sure and get an itinerary from the front gate when you first get to the park. It has a list of all the fun concerts that will be playing that day and shows you can go see. I highly recommend seeing Aladdin at the Hyperion theater in DCA. It is a fun musical and only about 30 minutes long. Its a nice cool break from walking around all day. 

Well those are all my tips and tricks, maybe one day I will write more. Anyway, hope everyone had a great thanksgiving. 

XO 

Caitlin