Passions: Worship and Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Let me start off by opening another window for you to see into my life....

I want to share with you my love and passion for worshipping Jesus Christ! The ladies of my church "back home", gave me this awesome and precious opportunity to lead the worship at their Ladies retreat over the weekend!  It was a 2 day, Beth Moore "Loving Well" retreat that involved lots of pampering, beautiful decor, delicious food, chocolates, cheesecake(!), heart-felt fellowship, Godly teaching, small group discussion, prayer and intimate worship!  I was thrilled and very honored to be a part of such a thing!  I love women, and I think God is giving me a bigger heart to minister to women all the time.  I've been called by the Lord from a young age to lead worship.  I've been singing for Him since I was 8.  That may sound "cute" to you, but I always took it very seriously.  I've been helping with worship on a pretty regular basis from the time I was 15 years old.  There is no other way of saying it but that God has given me a relentless desire to worship Him and lead others into His presence. That's where there can be deliverance, healing, restoration, peace, comfort!  I worship our Lord Jesus Christ because He is Worthy of  it.  Because we were created to.  Because there is power in it!!  He loves us all so very much.  I hope you know Him!

I just had to share that part of me with you since I don't believe I have before.  Singing for God one of my greatest passions, and if you want to know me better you have to know that! :D 

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Now then, something else is that I never refuse a good chocolate chip cookie!  I think that my husband and I can both say, honestly, that chocolate chip cookies are one of our top 5 favorite "Eats" of all time. They are simple. They are classic. They are unbeatable!  A rich buttery cookie with morsels of gooey melted chocolate?!?  Come on people, what's better?

This is a brand new recipe that I wanted to try.  We LOVE the double chocolate sea salt cookies, but I was out of cake flour and wanted to swim in new recipe waters.  I made a few of changes to this recipe that I found via Pinterest, creating one that's more of my own!  Wondering about a new and different chocolate chip cookie recipe, I dove in head first excited about surprising my wonderful Mr. Cozy with a batch hot out of the oven! 

They actually turned to be amazing!  The chew factor is a perfect ratio in this cookie.  I added a few granules of sea salt to the top of some of them for that salty sweet combination my hubby goes crazy for!  We shared with some friends, and I knew when our 9 year old friend said that they're "really good!!!" that they would be blog worthy! 

So Dear Ones, once again, please help yourself to a frosty glass of milk and have a try at my soft & chewy chocolate chip cookies!

Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/8 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 c. milk chocolate chips

(I really like Ghiradelli)

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. 

In a separate bowl, mix butter and sugars until blended.

Add egg, yolk and vanilla.  Mix together well.

See my pretty, candy apple red mixer helping me out in the kitchen?  Thanks again to my Secret Giver for this incredibly wonderful gift you gave me!!!  Now I think, what would I do without it? 

Add dry ingredients to wet.  Mix just until combined.

Add the best part, the chocolate chips!

Mix together the buttery goodness without eating it up....that's the hard part for me! 

I'm a Cookie Dough Monster!!

Shape and form the cookie dough on wax paper or plastic wrap into a log.  Roll u and wrap like a peppermint candy.  Store in the fridge for at least 3 hours or up to 48.  This makes the cookies taste SO much better! 

(It's a little secret of mine!  I'm a good friend:)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Portion out into large tablespoons on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 7 minutes and rotate pans and bake for another 7 minutes. This makes for an evenly baked cookie.Your oven temperature may vary a bit, but I would say to bake from 13-16 minutes total.  Take them out while they still look a bit under-done.

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