Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been baking chocolate chip cookies ever since I can remember.  The recipe I use creates a light fluffy dough and a delicious soft cookie.   These cookies have become every one's favorite.  This is my most requested recipe and I bake these at least a few times each month.  The recipe should make five dozen cookies, but if you have little fingers in the house that tend to be drawn to cookie dough you may only end up with four and a half dozen or so.

My four-year-old helped me bake these cookies tonight and did fairly well.  He didn't insist on breaking the eggs and he didn't want to lick the batter before it was done either.  Instead he spent time making tunnels in the flour with his hand.  Yes, he was in my flour container up to his elbow.  I'm sure the baking process kills the germs, right?

He did, however, insist on assisting in the baking process.  My oven is in the wall and when I wasn't looking he turned the dial to 450 degrees!!!  The cookies were supposed to be baked at 375 for 8-10 minutes.  Needless to say my first batch turned a little brown.  Here is a picture of his brown cookies, they actually don't look too bad.  They just turned out a little hard.  The picture of my less brown cookies is below, after the recipe.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe:
1 stick softened butter
1 cup butter flavored Crisco
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
Mix well, then add
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp good vanilla
3/4 tsp water
Mix again, then add
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3 1/3 cup flour
Mix well and then either add one 12 oz bag of chocolate chips or a combination of chips.  I like to mix things up since I bake them so often, so I might do half chocolate, half butterscotch or half peanut butter, half chocolate or a mixture of chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch and white.  Play with it a little.   This is how they turned out.  Enjoy!