Cookies and Christmas: A Match Made in Holiday Heaven

There’s a good reason fitness club memberships tend to spike come January. After a holiday season spent party-hopping and letting diets fall by the wayside, many people look to the gym as the means to helping shed those inevitable holiday pounds.
Perhaps no food is more popular around the holidays than cookies. Cookies are as much a part of the holiday season as Christmas trees, long lines at the mall and kids searching the house for presents. For those with guests to entertain this holiday season, the following recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies, or one of the variations, is sure to please.

DJ Ranch
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 72 cookies
2/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
2 eggs
2 tspn vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tspn soda
1 tspn salt
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375°F.

Cream butter, shortening and sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla, mix thoroughly.
Blend in remaining ingredients.
For a softer cookie, add an extra ½ cup flour.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown.
Cool slightly before removing from sheet.

Variations
Substitute:
2 cups salted peanuts for the chocolate chips. Flatten each cookie with the bottom of a glass that has been dipped in butter and sugar
or
12 oz butterscotch or peanut butter chips for the chocolate chips
or
2 cups raisins for the chocolate chips
or
For a festive touch, use 2 cups of red and green glace cherries, cut into small chunks

Keep a supply of the cookie dough in the freezer. Wrap in aluminum foil, freezer paper or plastic wrap. Thaw until just soft enough to handle.

Both baked cookies and cookie dough can be frozen and stored for up to nine months.