Pretty Picture and Sweet Saturday

Happy Saturday, my dear friends! I hope you all have the most wonderful weekend planned! :o) I'm going to the Josh Groban concert tonight and am ready to burst in anticipation. He's my absolute favorite musician. :o) I haven't been able to complete a new card yet, but I do have a lovely picture to share with you as well as a delicious recipe.

This picture is the inspiration for a very special craft project I'll soon be doing... I'm anxious to begin, but need to wait until I learn to brilliantly use my Copics. Hopefully later this summer I'll make it. (I had hoped to be a Copic natural... alas, I am not.) ;)

Isn't this gorgeous? My favorite water fountain I've ever encountered. I snapped this picture earlier this summer and am just enamored with it.

Sweet Saturday time! I missed doing this little feature last weekend. I couldn't let that happen again, so despite the crazy busy-bee days, I carved out some baking time last night around midnight. Made for my sweetheart, the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe.

If you need a classic, go-to chocolate chip cookie, I beg you to try this. I first made this recipe over a year ago, and this has been requested on a regular basis ever since. (They are my boyfriend's favorite.) I've had no reason to even try other recipes. At long last, the perfect chocolate chip cookie I had been craving to make at home. :o) (And it's super dooper fast to whip up!) Chewy, thick, and bursting with chocolate chips. These are truly incredible and are a staple in my baking adventures.

Have a beautiful day, my crafty friends! I'm sending you extra hugs and sparkles today. :o) Thank you so much for stopping by!

Note: I only bake one sheet of cookies at a time, due to a lack of trust in my oven. I'll write the recipe as is for baking multiple sheets at a time. :o)

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: Approximately 20-24

Ingredients:
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven to 325º F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. (I need three, since my sheets aren't massive.)

Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside. With an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or by hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. On low speed, add dry ingredients and beat just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Roll a scant half-cup of dough into a ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull apart into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving ample room between each ball. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy (approximately 11-14 minutes). Do not overbake.

Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Source: Annie's Eats