This minor (not so minor in my life) holiday celebrates the glory of the cookie.  Get at least one cookie consumption on your schedule and partake of this celebration of the cookie.  Imagine life without them.  Not very yummy.

8:00 AM

Breakfast – The oatmeal raisin cookie has fruit and grain.  The healthy way to indulge yourself and still feel good about what you’re eating.

10:25 AM

Mid-morning snack - Shortbread and a cup of tea.

12:00 PM

Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip Cookie for dessert after a sandwich or salad for lunch.

2:28 PM

Mid-afternoon slump – Enjoy a Brownie (it’s a close relative of the cookie and should be a part of the holiday) and cup of decaf.

7:10 PM

Dessert – It’s finally time to indulge in a cookie.  After all, it’s National Cookie Day.

If you have kids you know that buying school supplies can add up.  X # of notebooks, Y # of pencils, Z # of markers.  Add in graph paper, binders, notebook paper, scissors, rulers, crayons, calculators, the list goes on and on and on.  And, suddenly, your wallet is a bit thinner.

To help those in our community that are struggling in this crazy economy we’re in, My Kids’ Cookies is collecting school supplies for Bainbridge Island’s social services agency, Helpline House.  Anyone that brings in a donated school supply, and buys a cookie, will get a free cookie on us.

It’s our small way of sweetening the incentive to help those in need.

Job requirements for a chocolate chip cookie.

Recently, www.cakespy.com was having one of their regular giveaways with the lucky winner receiving a My Kids’ Cookies gift box.  The question to be answered to enter the contest was “What, in your opinion, makes up the ideal chocolate chip cookie?”

There were quite a few opinions provided so get yourself a cookie and a glass of milk, sit back and relax while you delve into what we love in the All American Iconic Cookie – the chocolate chip!   For those of you that don’t have fresh cookies and milk handy, or the time to read the results, the key job requirements are: lots of chips, an even split between chewy/soft & crisp/crunchy, warm from the oven, butter & salt are a must, milk makes it better, nuts are a plus, Yum!, dough tastes great too, undercooked/underbaked, gooey, MMMMM!, brown sugar sweetens the deal.

The edges must be crisp, but the middle still very soft and chewy. The darker the chocolate, the better.

Lots o’ chips. Yum!

My mom used to put a little cinnamon in her homemade chocolate chip cookies. This made for an extra special bargaining chip at the lunch table in elementary school. I didn’t dare profess to knowing the secret ingredient (because cinnamon seems sort of…anticlimactic), but could get two storebought cupcakes or an icecream bar for just one of my mom’s little cookies.
I like a soft cookie best, with a padded cookie to chip ratio. Less chips, more cookie. Chips should be a surprise, not a given…

Soft cookie and not too, too many chips. And a glass of milk to go along with it.

I love a cakey cookie. One that is poofed up and chewey on the inside.

The perfect chocolate chip cookie is straight out of the oven, soft, with the chips melting! Every bite should contain a chocolate chip!

I swear, these giveaways just keep getting better and better!! I love a chocolate chip cookie that’s dense and chewy, maybe just a tad crunchy on the outside edge. With melty, gooey chips in it, of course!

I prefer my chocolate chip cookies slightly underbaked. They firm up as they cool, but are still ooey-gooey when you eat them. I also think they need to have more cookie, less chips. In fact, I have even made chocolate chip-less chocolate chip cookies with just the dough and no chocolate!

Crisp edges, chewy center, dark chocolate. And make mine thick!

I really like it to be crispy one the edges and chewing in the middle. I love to taste vanilla.

warm, gooey, slightly undercooked, melty chips. done!

ooey gooey straight outta the oven. when you bite into it and you get melted chocolate all over your face & hands….ahhh cookie perfection

Big, chewy and just the right amount of semi-sweet chips.

The perfect amount of chocolate chips is very important! Also, I hear that if you double the amount of butter, they will be the best cookies ever. Why does fat have to be the thing that makes everything taste so good?

The ideal chocolate chip cookie must be slightly warm, for starters! It must be “melty” to be truly good. Also…nothing extra in it! No nuts or berries, or other add-ins. Just chocolate chips.

The ultimate chocolate chip cookie: soft, puffy, warm with lots of chips, no nuts, and a hint of salt. There’s nothing better!

Lots o’ chips and no nuts.

Being warm makes the cookie so much better! Chewy, thick, thin, chippy or not – if it’s straight from the oven – I’m in!

I love the really flat ones! With not too many but def not too few chocolate chips! They are moist but have a little crisp to them on the outer edges!

really good chocolate and really good butter. also, a little salt. and really as little baking as possible. I prefer the dough straight from the mixer!

really good chocolate and really good butter. also, a little salt. and really as little baking as possible. I prefer the dough straight from the mixer!

Still underbaked and warm (I’m not above putting them in the microwave to recreate that oven-fresh feeling). I like the ones that the batter was left to sit overnight, for a less flat cookie.

Chewy and not cakey – I have to taste the real butter. Good chocolate – nice and dark, no milk chocolate and NO HERSHEYS. I personally like a little splash of rum in them as well as the vanilla, for good round flavor. Yum!

As long as there is a cold glass of milk, I’ll eat chocolate chip cookies in any form!

Lots o’ chocolate chips. Crisp edges, but soft insides. Still warm so the chips are melty. And, dipped into a cold glass of milk. Yum!

Golden buttery crisp edges, nice thick chewy slightly underbaked soft center. Hint of vanilla and cinnamon. MMMMMM!!!

i would say chewy/ crisp ratio, but i think it’s more the setting that you eat your chocolate chip cookie in!

For me, crisp on the edge but a little underbaked so it is still gewy, with nuts.

Chewy, with a good chip-to-cookie ratio. I didn’t like the NYT cookies so much because when I made it with the amount of chocolate in the recipe, the chocolate totally overpowered the cookie flavor.

I’ve found that I love the fluffy chocolate chip cookies that almost melt in your mouth. A good mix of brown sugar in the recipe I think does that with just the right amount of chips so the cooked dough does melt in your mouth. Making them the size of a dollar coin is my favorite as well and everyone seems to love them since they just pop in your mouth.

Seriously, it’s all about the right amount of oats and peanut butter. Yum!

Let the dough rest overnight before baking and you’ll come out with the most delicious cookies ever, no matter your CCCD.

Oohhh! How I love the chocolate chip cookie! They are perfect when they are made with semis-sweet chocolate chips, and are soft and chewy on the inside with a crisp little crust on the outside. Oh, and I always used SALTED butter because I think they taste better a bit on the salty side.

The perfect chocolate chip cookie has to be slightly crisp on the edges, with a soft center. They should be about three hours out of the oven so the sugar resets but the chips are still meltish.
Yummmy

If my tastebuds like it and I want to eat more! Then I know it’s a good cookie–and not too many chocolate chips!

For me it would need to be served hot and soft!! But my husband likes them crunchy! =o) Yum!

chewy with chocolate chips that hold their meltiness. also it can’t be too eggy.

Is that SO HARD???

Brown sugar is necessary!
Also, milk chocolate chips are a travesty. Inexcusable!

The perfect combination of crunch on the outside and goo on the inside!

I think the best thing is the amount of chocolate chips in the cookie…I also like them on the soft side.

I like them cooked at just the right temperature for just the right amount of time that they are chewy with crisp edges when they cool… and lots of brown sugar!

It must be soft, but not greasy-soft like those awful Chewy Chips Ahoy. Also, just enough semi-sweet chocolate chips that there’s chocolate in each bite, but not so many that the chocolate overwhelms the cookie itself.

I like it to still be warm from the oven so the chocolate will still be liquid. Slightly crispy edges and oozy chocolate MMMMMM.

For me, 2 best parts about a chocolate chip cookie is the crunchy edges/soft chewy middle and the little hit of salty flavor mingling w/ the bittersweet chocolate…. Mmm….

Really Good Bittersweet chips…
And they are also better the second day.

Warm, chocolatey, with strawberries and milk!

A bit of saltiness, warm enough that the chocolate is all melty. mmmm

Crackly on top, but still chewy. Well rounded and slightly thick like a ball that went perfectly flat. Enough salt to just notice it. Good quality chocolate chips. Half wheat flour for that nutty whole grain taste. Good quality chocolate chips. Love.

Oh, goodness. Thinking about it made me crave a chocolate chip cookie like crazy. Straight from the oven please! Deliciously melted chips. Not too much chocolate that it consumes the cookie, though. Mmm mmm.

Caramel-butterscotch undertones, chewy middle (intentionally, not because it was undercooked), crispy edges, and the chocolate chips can’t overwhelm the cookie part. Maybe a hint of espresso powder, too.

An ideal chocolate chip cookie has craisins in it as well!

I like a slightly under cooked cookie-very moist in the middle with the edges a bit firmer and of course double the chocolate called for in the recipe. Nothing too buttery-I hate a cookie that tastes like a stick of butter.

The best CC cookie is a classic. Semi-sweet chips like molten lava, still-warm chewy cookie with just barely crunchy edges, and a huge glass of cold milk. Can’t go wrong there!

chewy and lots of milk chocolate chips! pecans are a bonus.

They have to be about 3-4inches in size and still warm and gooey when you take a bite.

I love using milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet. I think what makes it is the softness—-I always put a piece of bread in my cookie jar— it makes them oh so soft!

Crispy edge but soft in the center. Not too sweet. I always prefer to make it myself rather than buying from stores. Big chocolate chunks are also ideal!

Soft and with lots of chocolate chips!

The ideal chocolate cookie must NOT be too hard or too soft. It must have a tender bite; a good amount of good quality chocolate chips with each bite; and still warm from the oven!

Making the best chocolate chip cookie is easy: use lots of chocolate!!!

My ideal chocolate chip cookie is neither hard nor gooey but somewhere in between. Oh and it has to have chunks instead of chips

For me my chocolate chip cookies need to be warm and gooey. Also, a lot of chocolate chips is a must!

I would agree with others who say crispy edge with gooey middle and I like pecans in mine!

Big, chewey, NO NUTS, sweet with a hint of salty buttery goodness. Just the right amount of chips… Yummy…

Just the right number of chips in a tasty dough.

nice big chewy cookie with large dark chocolate chunks. sometimes with vanilla ice cream!

no chips- CHUNKS!

Me, me…please, me!!!

I am pretty happy with all of them, unless the chips are milk chocolate. Panera makes a great one!

really super soft and chewy without too many chips. and i must admit, i like milk chocolate chips. i know, a travesty.

The cookie must be VERY soft and have a balanced amount of chocolate chips for the size of the cookie. =)

While some like a soft, chewy chocolate chip cookie, I like a crunchy one!

I like chewy chocolate chip cookies that aren’t too sweet- the perfect balance of dough and chips – without having any one of those overpowering the cookie.

definately the ratio of chips to batter. Must be LOTS of chips in every bite. Also, they have to be chewy…not crunchy!

Crispy edges, chewy middle, and lots of choc chips. Oats or peanut butter always make a choc chip cook that little bit better too..

A tad underbaked… dark chocolate chunks, not chips..and I double the vanilla to make them extra tasty!! Mmm. Thanks for another giveaway!
caitlinhyla@gmail.com

It has to be super moist, chewy, and LOADED with chocolate chips. No nuts of any kind either!

It has to be super moist, chewy, and LOADED with chocolate chips. No nuts of any kind either!

They have to be buttery, a bit salty, not overloaded with chips b/c the cookie itself is so yummy, and crisp. I’m anti chewy chocolate chip cookies. And no nuts.

In my professional opinion, the perfect chocolate chip cookie has to be warm from the oven and soft accompanies by the occasional nut. In addition to that what is better to drink than milk with the nice gooey warm chocolate chip cookie?

I need a fair amount of chips, and I need the perfect texture — somewhere between chewy and crisp. If I have a glass of cold, cold milk to go with that, I’m the happiest person in the world.

Super chewy in the middle, crispy on the outside, and chips galore.

Crunchy outside, chewy inside, walnuts and semi sweet chocolate chunks…
Keep the cookies – I want those notecards!!

Oh and definitely – NO NUTS!

Homemade and slightly undercooked so that the whole thing is almost fall apart soft. Mmmmm. ^_^

the ideal cookie:
in appearance: smooth in texture,and fresh brown. you see no chocolate chips on the cookie but taste suprise when eating the cookie.
chewy and sweet like marshmallows and leave an extreme sweet taste on your tongue even when you finished the cookie.
and the IDEAL part of this cookie is that you do not have to drink lots of water to get rid of this overwhelming sweeetness, but you would like to take have another similar cookie!

huge and flat, with a serious chew and a microscopic toffee-like shell that crisps slightly under the teeth. Dark chocolate, of course, never any nuts, nicely browned and *slightly* salty.

Huge. Crispy edges and chewy middle. Preferably with walnuts too!

you have to have kick-ass, super high-quality chocolate. and CHUNKY!

For me, the best cc cookie is somewhat thick, soft and chewy, but with a touch of crisp on the edge (not too much!). I like to put a little bit of cinnamon & nutmeg…and go heavy on the vanilla extract and chocolate chips!

Salt and a big glass of milk right next to it!

Choclates and walnuts

The perfect cookie shuld be bigger then my hand, with a chewy center and crispy edges, warm and when you break it in half the chips should melt….MMMMM MMMMM YUMMYYY!!!!

Soft, slightly chewy, with a little crust; warm; the chocolate still melty. Yum!

For me, changing it into a snickerdoodle. I don’t like them. But, for my children, it would be using fresh butter, fresh eggs (from the hen house), and adding freshly ground whole wheat flour for a little nuttiness. The fresher your ingredients, the better the cookie. At least that is what they tell me.

It has to be cakey, chewy and have just the right amount of saltiness!

Crisp around the edges, gradually turning into a soft, buttery,chocolaty mix. The closer to the middle the softer it gets. The chips must still be a little warm. This is the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Oh…and a nice cold glass of milk on the side:)

For me, my perfect chocolate chip cookie is the Nestle Tollhouse recipe. It contains the perfect amount of chocolate and butter taste.

It has to be the ratio of chips to batter. Too many chips make it too chocolately and too much batter is borning.

OH boy, what a fantastic question! Well, like many people out there, I love a cookie that is huge and soft, almost cake-like, with a high enough cookie-to-chip ratio to keep the chocolate from overpowering the doughy delight. I also think that a touch of salt is key to balancing the flavor. But most importantly, I want my cookie to be just as amazingly delicious at room temperature as it is when it’s fresh out of the oven. Anyone can make delicious cookies hot out of the oven! It’s the cookies that stay scrumptious after they’ve cooled completely that are, in my opinion, truly special.

It has to be crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. It has to be buttery, chocolaty, and a little salty. Also, it has to be WITHOUT nuts. YUCK! OH! and there has to be a lot of them baked and ready just for me!

my ideal chocolate chip cookie is one w/out chocolate chips! crazy, i know! i like them both ways but w/out has been my favorite since i was a youngin.

must be soft- with more cookie than chocolate. And a cold glass of milk is a must!

It should be chewy with no nuts. Crispy cookies are like crackers. What’s the point? Oh, and there is no substitute for butter.

A sprinkle of salt on top just after baking makes for the perfect combo of sweet and salty….Mmmm!

Hugh Chocolate chunks and a pinch of Fleur de sel

Real butter, pecans… and someone else making them! LOL YUMMY! Makes me want some now. Anyone up for some baking? LOL

The ideal chocolate chip cookie: tastes like when you were 7-years-old and gives warm comfort that nothing else like it can. Oh, and huge chocolate chunks!

The best chocolate chip cookie is right out of the oven…warm, gooey and soft! Just barely crisp on the outside with gently melted chocolate chunks all the way through!

OH, I love chocolate chip cookies. I am so not picky! Chewy or crisp it’s the chocolate that makes the cookie.

I like soft cookies with the chips that are melted even after the cookie is 2 days old…. OH… and it has to be good dunked in ice cold milk.

The day is just not complete without a good chocolate chip cookie! I prefer cookies to be “crunchewy” … crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle. I love it when I can taste good quality ingredients, like milk chocolate (Guittard is my FAVORITE!) Above all, I must be able to break off a piece of the cookie without it falling apart. Oooh… and no burned bottoms, please.

The chips they myst be bittersweet or semi-sweet, so important to be like dark chocolate!

Homemade chocolate chip cookies are my absolute favorite cookie! The edges must be slightly crisp, but the middle still very soft and chewy with just a hint of cinnamon and the darker the chocolate, the better.

I like a nice firm but chewy chocolate chip cookie with dark chocolate chunks, like 60%. The part that makes them the best is sprinkling them with sea salt so you get that wonderful salty and sweet all in one. Mmmmm…..

Definitely need a high percentage of chocolate chips! And not too flat, with just a hint of extra salt. The best chocolate chip cookies are eaten right out of the freezer.

Chocolate chip cookies should have loads of halved walnuts in them. Chewy or crisp; either sort is good! YUM!

Soft and warm, with even distribution of chips…and no walnuts!

The ideal chocolate chip cookie should be soft, almost slightly uncooked, but actually baked just so. It should be warm when eaten and the chocolate chips should still have shape, but should be melty when you bite into it. The cookie should then leave some chocolate smudges on your lips for a final taste to reminisce.

Chocolate chip cookies seem to be personal preference, but I believe they’re always better the next day…if they last that long!!

i love a chocolate chip cookie without too many chips! i also prefer a crunchy cookie to chewy…

Lots of Chocolate chips, Toasted pecans, real butter and vanilla. Also, ideally warm from the oven, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. And most importantly does not taste like its been preserved and will last forever.

For me, the ideal chocolate chip cookie has lots of big, dark, swirly chocolate chips- really at least an equal part chocolate to cookie. Then the unexpected magic touch- flaky sea salt on top. Rich, sweet and salty- warm from the oven with a hot cup of green tea. YUM!

mmmm melty goodness
veganness/non-gluten preferred.

thin 2. chewy inside 3. slightly crunchy outside 4.quality chocolate 5.hint of spices
or, 6. under cooked and good vanilla ice cream on top!

Soft, chewy, and not too sweet. Maybe a little salt. Now I’m hungry.

My very very ideal chocolate chip cookie would have no chocolate chips. haha. I love the cookie part so much I need more of it! My second favorite is one of those giant cookies with vanilla ice cream on it, though. Shared with my mom of course. Probably after a hard day of shopping.

crispy edges, chewy middle, chocolate that stays melted.

The perfect chip-to-dough ratio: the richness of the chocolate shouldn’t overpower the sugar and butter flavors of the cookie. I also love a warm, gooey center.

I would have to say a chocolate chip cookie with a balanced amount of chocolate chips, like 6-9 chips per cookie, chunky because of being more on the cakey and soft side rather than thin and crunchy This would be my ideal chocolate chip cookie!

Chewy guts but crispy edges!

crispy edges~
chewy center~
milk ~
semi~
and dark chocolate
together

The ideal chocolate chip must be chewy, soft, and thick. It should have either small, dainty chocolate chips or large chunks. It shouldn’t be too sweet, either .

A little bit of oatmeal makes them nice and chewy. I love it!

I like them when they’re too thin and kind of crispy. I messed up on a recipe once and they came out like that, I loved it! But I haven’t been able to mess them up that good since!

They must be crispy and I prefer milk chocolate chips to semi-sweet ships! Hershey’s chocolate perferably!

Chewy without crisp, thick enough to have soft almost underbaked centers, and LOTS of GOOD quality chocolate!!

I like mine vegan…so I can safely eat as much as dough as I want!!!

Hmmm, the best chocolate chip cookie….good quality chocolate and a cookie part that is chewy around the edges and soft in the middle.

more chocolate than dough, crispy outside rim, chewy interior. not too brown. calorie-free.

Cookies… yay!
Ultimate chocolate chip cookies must contain milk chocolate and an added scraped vanilla bean. I’m a vanilla gal.

The chewiness of the cookie, the coolness of the chocolate which melts when bitten into and the sweet caramel taste into which all flavours are interwined. =)

I love it when chocolate chip cookies have that brown sugar-y taste. My husband, however, loves them fluffy and cake-y. Good quality chocolate chips are always important!

I believe that they HAVE to be soft. Slightly under-baked. IF they are crunchy… they taste old, dry and terrible!

Not too sweet – let the flavors come through.

The best chocolate chip cookie is crisp on the edges and soft in the center. They have to have really good dark chocolate chips…and lots of them.I prefer large chips or perhaps chunks.

It has to be large, fat, melt-in-your mouth chewy and of course have lots of chocolate chips!!!

It must be large, warm, chewy with lots of chocolate chunks.

Extremely moist and slightly chewy with TONS of bitter/semi-sweet chocolate chunks (quality chocolate of course)!

A mix of sugars, high quality chips — not too many of them! — crisp edges and a chewy centre, definitely.

A perfect chocolate chip cookie is one that I get to dunk in a glass of milk after the kids are in bed!

Lots of chocolate chips and delicious crispy edges!

Lots of butter and chocolate chips!! Yum!

the addition of oatmeal makes the cookie perfect. Not to mention, the full serving of love that is put in by a thoughtful baker

crispy on the outside, soft on the inside where every chip melts in your mouth

I had an amazing chocolate chip cookie at Leda’s in Sherman Oaks once that had coconut and oatmeal in it, some kind of nut as well, I think. It’s so good. Big soft chewy ones are also brilliant.

It needs to have a chewy, dough-ey center–but without being undercooked!

They’ve got to be soft and chewy and the chocolate chips have to be just barely melty.

Soft and chewy, and slightly underbaked. And just out of the oven! There is nothing better than fresh chocolate chip cookies Mmmm I’m going to go make some now…

I love a CC cookie fresh out of the oven. It should be slightly crisp on the outside and warm, soft, and chewy on the inside. Pair it with a glass of ice cold milk and I am all set.

In my opinion, underbaking chocolate chip cookies makes the ideal cookie. When they are underbaked by about 2 minutes, they stay nice and chewy! Also, there should be lots of chips.

Chunks instead of chips or along with chips, the more chocolate the better!

I love lots of dark chocolate chips and a fine buttery crisp around the edges!

It must be soft and chewy with lots of chocolate chips! Yum-O!!!!!

The texture is so key – slightly crisp on the outside with a soft chew on the inside. And good quality chocolate, that you’d want to eat on its own.

The dough is my favorite part of the chocolate chip cookie: buttery and sweet, so that crisp edges taste like toffee and the middle of the cookie melts in your mouth. The chocolate chips are important too, gives a texture and bittersweet contrast to the cookie, but the dough is what makes or breaks a chocolate chip cookie for me!

(unofficial) Definition:  the day after Thanksgiving.

Millions of Americans hit the pavement and roads on the day after Thanksgiving, exercising away those calories from a big turkey dinner and putting retailers in the black (i.e. making money/turn a profit).  Bargains galore are usually offered up by retailers and web-tailers to entice people to spend their hard earned dollars with them.  In this pinched economy, look for advance information on Black Friday and holiday season sales at http://bfads.net/, http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/ and http://www.blackfriday.info/.  Even though gas prices are dropping, online shopping is still a great way to go.

Shoppers, start your engines!

My Kids’ Cookies Retail Shop is now open on Bainbridge Island.  A colorful and bright place to sit and enjoy a freshly baked cookie and a cup of delicious coffee.  If you’re ever on our beautiful island, stop by and say hi.