Two secrets for the best chocolate chip cookies you have ever had

Anyone that ever knew my mother knew that she was a world class baker - especially well known for her delicious and soft chocolate chip cookies! When she would send me care packages at college, the girls on my dorm floor would come find me on campus to tell me of its arrival, just so they could be there when I opened up the part of the package that contained the cookies. At Mom's memorial service, and in the weeks after, her cookies were mentioned in more than one of the condolences cards or in the sweet comments people made in person.

As luck would have it, she did share with me and my siblings the two secrets to making these incredible cookies. Now, I want to share these two secrets with YOU! I should warn you - these aren't "health" cookies...but they are SO good, you won't care!

Here are the ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup of butter flavored Crisco (<--Secret #1 - makes the cookies fluffier)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Here are the instructions:

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat Crisco, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Taste test the batter to make sure it's awesome (alright, I added that part...) Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 minutes or so. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; then, place on brown paper bags that you have laid out on the counter (it'll absorb a little of the excess grease).

EAT warm with a really cold glass of milk. If you don't eat all of them, STORE them in an airtight container or cookie jar. ADD one piece of loaf bread to the container or cookie jar. (<--Secret #2! This will make the cookies soft to eat later! The bread will become hard as a rock because by some science or magic, all the moisture from the bread will go into the cookies! Genius!)

ENJOY the fame you will reap from serving these to your friends and family.