Cookies and Cupcakes, oh my!

We recently attended a Halo Night at our friend's house and part of what we do is I bring baked goods. I wanted to get outside of my usual box of just cookies so I made my grandmother's chocolate chip cookies and another blogger's (a friend) cupcakes. They all turned out very good and were almost gone by the time we left.
Above you can see the chocolate chip cookies. These are from my grandmother's recipe and turn out great pretty much no matter what. Mine are still a bit larger than hers but it takes time to get the perfect cookie. Here is the recipe:

Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Grease a cookie sheet (unless they are non-stick then you can skip this). Shift, or mix, 1 cup and 2 Tbls Flour (wheat for me), 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium mixing bowl. In a large mixing bowl mix together 1/2 cup softened shortening, 6 Tbls sugar, 6 Tbls packed brown sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 1/4 tsp water until creamy. Then beat in 1 egg. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips (and 1/2 cup chopped nuts, if desired). Spoon out and drop on cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes (I do 11 minutes to get them crispy but 10 or 9 will leave them a little softer). Let cool a few minutes then transfer to a wire cookie rack to cool completely, or to be eaten by your husband as you are trying to make something else ;)

Enjoy!!!


And these are the delicious (should have used all-purpose not wheat flour but) cupcakes. I used the recipe a friend has on her site. Click on the link if you want it. It is just the Hershey's chocolate cupcake recipe with the addition of a peanut butter frosting (all homemade). They were pretty popular even if I am not a cupcake maven!