STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS The Roanoke Times

Rob George, 19, from Middletown, N.J., and Jerzy Kessler, 20, from Rochester, Mass., chop pecans to add to their thin chocolate chip cookie dough (recipe at right).

Food writer Lindsey Nair

• lindsey.nair@roanoke.com | (540) 981-3343

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Try your own hand at making two different versions of chocolate chip cookies and see how they turn out! Each recipe makes about 2¹₂ dozen cookies.

Thin chocolate chip cookies

1 ¹₂ cups bleached all-purpose flour

³₄ tsp. salt

³₄ tsp. baking soda

10 Tbsp. butter

¹₂ cup granulated sugar

¹₃ cup light brown sugar

3 Tbsp. corn syrup

2 Tbsp. milk

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

Puffy chocolate chip cookies

1 ¹₂ cups cake flour

³₄ tsp. salt

1 ¹₂ tsp. baking powder

9 Tbsp. butter-flavored shortening

1 cup minus 1 Tbsp. light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions for both:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda (for the thin cookies) or baking powder (for the puffy cookies) in a medium mixing bowl.

3. Using an electric mixer, cream fat and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add corn syrup, if using. Add milk or egg and beat thoroughly. Beat in the vanilla. On low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the sides once with a rubber spatula. Add chocolate chips and beat for 5 seconds on low. Use the rubber spatula to finish mixing in well.

4. Spray cookie sheets lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Drop slightly heaped tablespoons of batter about two inches apart onto the greased sheets. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the edges just begin to brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheet for about three minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Source: "Cookwise" by Shirley O. Corriher