Yesterday, I had the day off and decided to bake a batch of Molly’s College Tollhouse Cookies and package them up for some of our neighbors : ) So that’s what I did, as you can see. But first, let me tell ya a little bit about Molly…

I met her about 4 1/2 years ago. You see, Molly and I are both Physical Therapist Assistants, and we met in therapy school.  We had to commute 1 hour to get to class 3x/week. Soon, a “carpool” from the Springs developed, consisting of 5 awesome ladies. We were the cool kids : ) Got to know each other pretty quick, since we were stuck together in a vehicle for long periods of time. At ungodly hours of the morning, we’d all pile in, taking turns driving week by week.
{Side note girls, I don’t recall any of us ever getting pulled over for speeding in the entire 2 years of commuting. Congratulations.}
We shared life stories, milestones, (babies, engagements, job opportunities, friendships, failures and successes in school/exams, etc..), good days, and bad days. Pretty thankful for our times together.

The bonus of carpooling was that we could pull out our notes, books, anatomy diagrams, and manual therapy skills (yes even in the car) to practice or cram information before arriving at school. Often times a test or treatment exam was the first event of the day. Fortunately for us, even the driver of the week got quizzed and prepped in the car prior to pulling into the school parking lot. We were so wise : )  Another BONUS of carpooling with Molly and the girls…
Behold, the best chocolate chip cookies you’ve ever tasted.

I call them Molly’s College Tollhouse Cookies because these babies are not just ANY Tollhouse cookie, they’re Molly’s special recipe.

Here’s the difference. You can find The Original Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe on the back of any Nestle chocolate chip bag; or just Google it.  However these turn out generally quite thin and sometimes too crispy. If you like fluffy pillow chocolate chip cookies, you’ll want to read along!

The only changes she makes to the Nestle Tollhouse recipe is –>
ADD: 1 extra CUP of flour
ADD: 1 extra tsp. of vanilla.

Lastly the KEY to perfection –> only cook them for 9-10 min, depending on oven. They won’t look done, but they are.

That’s it folks.
(I’ll list the entire recipe/instructions at the bottom of the page, here.)

Somehow, with those little changes, instead of flat-as-a-pancake cookies, you get round, moist, fluffy, cookies that stay plump as they bake.

I make these all the time now and must say, they have developed quite a reputation!

Once they were cooled off, I packaged them up with parchment paper and little white boxes I found at Hobby Lobby, like this…

and wrote notes, because we have the coolest neighbors ever…

Then left these parcels by their front of their doors, to be found when they got off work!
The recipe below is WITH Molly’s adjustments..

Bake some for your neighbors or friends, and share the love!

MOLLY’S TOLLHOUSE COOKIES

3 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. granulated sugar
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 package (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips/morsels (I just use 1-1/2 cups.)
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

PREHEAT oven 375. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. SEPARATELY beat butter, both sugars, vanilla.  Add eggs one at a time to this wet mixture. Then mix dry with wet ingredients. Mix in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop rounded tablespoons of batter onto lightly greased cookie sheet.
BAKE for 9 – 10 minutes. (MOLLY’S TIP: be careful not to over-bake them, or they will not be soft and fluffy cookies)
Cool on sheets for 3-5 min, and place on wire racks or parchment paper to cool completely.

Thanks for sharing your recipe, Mol!

from my Tiny Kitchen,
glorieanna