The Secret to Delicious Home Made Chocolate Chip Cookies in 20 Minutes

The word ‘cookie’ appears to come from the Dutch word “koekje or koekie” and refers to a small cake.  Cookies are one of the fastest and easiest things to make.  They come in many different shapes, sizes textures and flavors.  Cookies are now eaten any time of the day – coffee/tea breaks, as a snack, for dessert, and even given as a welcoming gift. 

Cookies are called biscuits in the U.K. and Australia; in Spain they are called “galletas”; in Germany they are called “keks”; and in Italy they are called “biscotti”.  Every country has its favorite.  In the United States and Canada it is the chocolate chip.

As an immigrant to the Unites States, I became obsessed with making the chocolate chip cookies.  I love the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and definitely the taste, they are so more-ish and very portable because I can take them anywhere with me.  I tried many recipes out there and they are easy to make, however I’m a busy person, I don’t want to have to measure out the ingredients and beat the butter.  The Nestle Toll House cookie recipe is one of my favorites and I was introduced to the recipe by a friend.  But as yummy as they are, the recipe made more cookies than I usually wanted and took up more of my time that I was willing to spend.  So I decided to look for good packet mix as an alternative that I could supplement with my own ingredients to produce the home-made flavor without requiring time and effort.  There were so many packet mixes on the supermarket shelves I was almost overwhelmed.  Through trying each brand, I’ve found one that definitely fits my requirements for “easy” without compromising on taste.

My secret to home baked chocolate chip cookies is the Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix!  It produces very comparable result to my other favorite recipe, Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe. This cookie mix has become one of essential items in my kitchen pantry.  I can have freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in 20 minutes; the preparation time is about 7 minutes and the bake time is about 10 minutes.

I also like to add other items to the basic mix to get variety.  One of my favorite added ingredients is half a cup of plain oatmeal (as seen in the picture).  Try adding these ingredients:

-          ½ cup walnuts

-          ½ cup of dried cranberries

-          ½ cup of chopped macadamia nuts, or

-          ½ cup of chopped macadamia nuts, ½ cup of dried cranberries and ½ cup of white chocolate chips.

Now that you know the secret, impress your family, guests and friends with these delicious home baked chocolate cookies using a pre-made cookie mix as your secret ingredient – an example of easy cake recipes.  They may even nick name you Betty Crocker ;-)