If you’re like me, you love nothing more than a warm homemade, oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, but sometimes it’s impossible to find a recipe that is worth coming back to again and again. One night a few weeks ago, I was craving a chewy, perfectly salted, oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Most recipes I came across called for letting the dough chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour, which I did not have the time for, since I always get the urge to bake at 8:00 at night! After searching through many recipes, all named “BEST Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER!!”, one finally caught my eye… mainly because the total time to prepare and bake them was 20 minutes. 

The most exciting part about being in the kitchen is that you have the freedom to put your own twist on whatever it is you’re making, although, when it comes to baking, I usually don’t change much, because firstly I’m no American Baking Show chef, and secondly one little switch up can cause a big problem. But when it comes to Chocolate Chip Cookies, I’m very particular about a few things, but most importantly, the amount of chips going in, what kind of chocolate is going in, and yes, I even care about the shape of it (I’m not a chocolate chunk kind of girl)! In fact, there was one day, before I worked at The Fudge Shoppe, that I followed a chocolate chip cookie recipe but left the chocolate chips out ON PURPOSE, but don’t tell my boss. Anyway, back to that secret ingredient recipe! 

While I enjoy the general direction of the 20 minute recipe, there were a couple unique aspects that needed doctoring. For one, I scraped the regular fine salt because coarse sea salt is an absolute must.  Also, I love swapping  white sugar for light brown sugar for that full flavor. Lastly, the recipe I was reviewing called for two cups of chocolate chips! Now, some of you wouldn’t see the problem with that, but as we know, I'M SUPER PARTICULAR ABOUT THIS ASPECT OF COOKIES! Lucky for me, I didn’t have just any old regular chocolate chips on hand though. I had our mini Chocolate Chips from The Fudge Shoppe. I knew that if I cut back on the chocolate, they would still taste delicious due to the quality and flavor of the chips! It's all about balance here people! I went through with my alterations and only put in one cup of chocolate chips. Finally, I scooped the cookies onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper and popped them in the oven.

Before you know it, the night was still young and my cookies were ready! When I tell you that these soft, chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies have  never disappointed, I mean it!