Sabrina Blandon/The Hofstra Chronicle

As a college student, one of the few recipes I felt like I needed to have on hand was chocolate chip cookies. I find that every time I make them, they always turn out different; but that just means there is always room for improvement. After much trial and error, this recipe came out on top as one of my more successful attempts.

Ingredients:

1 stick butter

1 ½ cup flour

1 cup chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup brown sugar (I prefer brown sugar since it gives it a more caramelized, traditional cookie flavor. If you’re using white sugar, be sure to check on the cookies more frequently since this type of sugar burns easily.) 

1 egg

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking soda

Instructions:

1.     Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and either spread melted butter or use a canola cooking spray.

2.     Using an electric mixer, cream the sugar with the melted butter. If you don’t have an electric mixer, using a hand-held whisk works as well but may result in the melted butter bleeding through the cookie.

3.     Mix in the egg until it is beaten into the mixture. Try not to over-mix.

4.     Add in the flour, salt, baking soda and vanilla extract. At this point, you may need to use a spoon instead of a whisk since the dough will catch more in the whisk, making it difficult to mix.

5.     Incorporate the chocolate chips into the mixture. The measurement for this ingredient can be adjusted to fit your desired taste. I find dark chocolate chips work best since milk chocolate is likely to burn easily, leaving the cookie not as gooey.

6.     Scoop the mixture into little balls and place them on the prepped baking sheet, leaving some room between each one.

7.     Bake for 11-15 minutes and enjoy. The baking time may vary depending on which ingredients are substituted.