Chip's Chocolate Chips (aka CCCs)

Chip's Chocolate Chip

These cookies got their name from my great aunt Josephine whose nickname was Chip (I have no idea why she got that for a nickname) She brought these cookies one Christmas and they instantly became a favorite -- particularly to my brother and my dad. When my husband John and I started dating, he fell for the CCCs on the first Christmas we were together. The following year, my mom baked him an entire batch of them.  I didn’t even know she made them and in an effort to make sure that neither my dad nor my brother fond and ate them,  Mom actually lined a shirt box with foil and plastic wrap and wrapped the cookies in it.  She had no concern that even a Christmas present snoop like my brother would bother with what looked like a boring shirt…. It worked perfectly!

THE RECIPE

2c flour

1t baking powder

1c sugar

2t cinnamon

2 sticks (1 cup) butter softened

1 egg plus 1 yolk (separate and reserve the white for later)

1/3c white sugar

1t cinnamon

6 oz. about 1 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350º

Combine first four ingredients.

In a larger bowl, mix the second 4 ingredients and blend until smooth.

Gradually add dry ingredients until well blended.

Press evenly and firmly into a 13X18" baking pan.

Brush the remaining egg white over the cookie dough.

Combine sugar, cinnamon, and chips and sprinkle evenly over the dough. Use your hands to press chip mixture into the dough. You can put wax paper over the dough to keep your hands from getting gooey, but sometimes the topping wants to stick to the wax paper and you end up all gooey trying to get it back on the dough.

Bake for 25 minutes. When COMPLETELY cool, cut into squares and store in a covered container.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Now for a few tips….. I usually do a double batch of these.  Also, I discovered that it's easier to mix the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle it separately on the dough after the egg white. Then you better control when you sprinkle the chips: everything is distributed more evenly. One year when feeling a bit lazy I tried melting the butter instead of waiting for it to soften, recipe still worked and tasted fine.