Kitchen Aid Christening

I love cookies. I love making them, I love smelling them, and I LOVE eating them. Here, at Belle Château, Jay-Z and I embark on this task of making/consuming cookies quite often. Oh, and we do it well, we do it very well. (Especially I.) I've been using this chocolate chip cookie recipe since high school. It's the Neiman Marcus $250.00 cookie recipe. It uses espresso powder, and since J and I love coffee we jack up our cookies with that stuff. This was the first time I used my Kitchen Aid mixer, hence the title. I am very excited. It's my very first mixer. It's not a standing one YET, but it's lovely.

---

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder

1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1.	Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy (approximately 30 seconds)
2.	Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.
3.	In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips.
4.	Using a 1 ounce scoop or a 2 tablespoon measure, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart. Gently press down on the dough with the back of a spoon to spread out into a 2 inch circle. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie.

---

2 tips:

- Do not over-bake.

- Do not put too many chocolate chips.

(I am addicted to sugar, so I always try to slip in more chocolate/sugar than the recipe calls for. You really don't need to do that for this recipe.) (Well, maybe just a couple of extra tbsp of sugar.)

Delicious cookies make for happy roommates!