Finally ...

... the "sweet" treat post :).

My not-so-original, very much like Pioneer Woman Cooks, post about how I make cookies:

I've baked cookies using the same process for years now, my only real change is that I now have a little baking partner ... who really needs his mama to make him an apron that doesn't confuse him so much ... "Why does it say baking with Grandma when I'm baking with you?"

I flip flop between several recipes ... I'm a girl who likes change, at least in my cookie world :). Some of my current tried and true favorites are: Award Winning Chocolate Chip Cookies (as pictured here); Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies (a little bit of everything with chips, oats and peanut butter; and Mrs. Sigg's Snickerdoodles (when you don't want chocolate :).

I do tweak them a bit based on my own preferences and/or recommendations of the other reviewers ... e-mail me and I'll tell you all about it :).

Start with the dry ingredients.

Let your baking friend pour measured ingredients into bowl and then whisk so that all your baking soda and salt is evenly distributed.

Get your "wet" ingredients together. Start by creaming any butters/sugars together in mixer. Then add egg(s), vanilla and in this case instant pudding mix. Lastly add your chips/nuts. Now you can hand mix these in, but I'm lazy, so I pour them all around and then turn the mixer on very fast for only a few seconds to get them all nice and mixed up ... then you have this ...

The perfect dough. Yum!

Then you take a moment to enjoy your hard work (seriously, look at that face of pure enjoyment!). Ethan thinks he gets the better deal licking the paddle, but I tend to "snack on the dough" as I go and use a good ol' fashioned spoon.

The secret of a great cookie ... the mixer, the cookie sheet (I *almost* always use my one AirBake even if it means batches of 9 or 12 over and over), my Silpat (love this, seriously, no sticking, no burning, even cooking) and my scoop (makes my cookies look uniform and dare I say perfect? You know how I like perfection.)

A closer look at my BFF ... in baking of course :). Don't worry Jessie.

See? A perfect little scoop.

Ready to bake. Don't forget to check your oven thermometer, mine was running about 10 degrees warmer today so I turned it down a bit.

And while the first batch baked, I scooped the rest onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet (which I never use to bake, LOL) for a quick freeze before I put them in a freezer bag for future "right out of the oven without the fuss" cookies.

And the finished cookies ... so good!

And because you humored me and read through this LONG post and I made you look at cookies ... I'm going to give a way one batch of your cookie choosing (from the three recipes above).
I'll even ship them to you if you live far away from me :).
So, leave your name and your current favorite meal (it doesn't have to be dessert) ... and if you have several favorites feel free to leave more than one comment. The more you comment the more chances to win some home baked delicious love in a cookie from me to you!

I'll close this contest at midnight, Monday, May 19th!

Happy Friday & Happy Weekend!!