Just Baking

There are likely to be more unique places to get a recipe, but off the top of my head I can’t think of any. I admit it. I watch E!’s The Girls Next Door. It’s a guilty pleasure. So are gossip magazines. In a recent issue of OK! magazine, Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends shared a few of their favorite recipes, and his number one girl, Holly Madison, shared her favorite recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies. I have two catering jobs this week, so thought this would be a good time to give the recipe a whirl.

I virtually never eat raw cookie dough batter, but the picture with the recipe showed Holly doing it, and before I knew it, so was I. I couldn’t help it - the batter was rockin’ good. As for the recipe, it was good, but not an “end your search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie” kind of recipe. I think what is throwing me off is the addition of oatmeal in the ingredients list. Maybe I’m a chocolate chip cookie purist at heart, and just didn’t know it. The oatmeal and the chocolate chips make it look Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, and I think that’s a problem too. Visually, that’s what you’re mouth is prepared for, but then taste-wise, you get something different. Still a good cookie, don’t get me wrong, just not search ending.

Holly’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe courtesy of Holly Madison

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 cups oatmeal
1 (12 oz) bag chocolate chips

Cream the butter and brown sugar together. Add the eggs, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir in flour and oatmeal, then add the chocolate chips. Mold the mixture into 1-1/2 inch balls (I used a small ice cream scoop) and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for about 11 minutes.

Makes 44 2-inch cookies.