smiles or warms up a house better than the smell of cookie baking in the oven. Start

by pre-heating your oven to 375 degrees. Place half a cup of softened butter in large bowl

and add 1/2 cup of shortening. The combination of shortening and butter, the decadent tasting

and chewy textured cookie. Beat the butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium

to high-speed for 30 seconds. Add one cup of packed brown sugar, 1/2 of granulated sugar,

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 of teaspoon of salt. Starting on low speed beat the mixture

to combine. Increase the speed to high, scraping down the sides from time to time-- you're

creaming the sugar, butter and shortening here, and to look lighter in texture and color

about 3 minutes. Add 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and beat them in until they're combined. Gradually, add 2 and

3 quarter cups of flour blended in low speed until it's just incorporated. Stir in any

remaining flour with a spoon. Now, you're ready to add the chocolate chips. You'll need

a 12-ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate pieces. You can also use candy-coated semi-sweet chocolate

pieces if you prefer. Go ahead, just stir them right in. If you'd like nuts in your cookies, you can

add 1-1/2 cups of toasted chopped walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts, whichever you prefer.

Of course, you can always leave them out. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoons onto an

ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart or using a small cookie scoop for easy-handling

and uniform sizing. Bake the cookies in batches in the oven until the edges are just light

brown, about 8 to 9 minutes. Cool the cookies on a cookie sheet for 2 minutes then transfer

them to a wire rack to cool completely. The best way to store the cookies is to layer

them between sheets of waxed paper in a covered air-tight container. You can store them at

room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze them for up to 3 months.