cookies, finally

I know it has been months since I started this chocolate chip cookie contest. 
But like I said, I wanted to give every cookie a fair chance and only make them when I really felt like eating them.  No cookie recipe can win when the cookie judge is all cookied-out. 

We baked every recipe you sent us, and boy were they good!  Most of them worked for me, some did not, although I figured out what my problem was:
using margarine instead of real butter.

Now my mom bakes cookies in Utah, and she always uses margarine, and they always turn out perfect and fluffy.  In fact, when she uses real butter, they become flat, hard little messes.

I have no idea why margarine works in Utah and butter works in Texas.  But it does. And I'm so glad that I've learned that now.

As for the winner of the contest, there was one recipe that just kept coming back to us, one recipe that we keep talking about, one cookie recipe that we could have eaten for days without getting tired of them.

Shannon's recipe for  Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.

They were so, so good.  The peanut butter gives it just a hint of flavor (and after they cool off you can hardly taste it at all) but it makes them moist and full and mouthwatering.  The house smelled amazing while they were baking.  Kent took some to work to share and his co-workers raved about them.
They are my new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Shannon's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cream together -
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar


Add to bowl & mix -
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla


In a separate bowl combine -
2 1/2 - 3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking sodaa
1/2 tsp. salt


Add dry ingredients to wet. Mix well. Add 1 pkg. chocolate chips (I would always choose milk chocolate chips).
Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.


Congrats, Shannon!  Thanks for the recipe. 
As for your prize, I plan to hand-deliver it this very weekend!