Ritz Carlton 5 star cookies, The Best Cookies!

These are by far the best cookies I have made. Once upon a time I would have argued until I fainted that the Neiman Marcus cookies I use to make all the time were THE best. These NEW best cookies are much easier and less fiddley to make and you can yield 50+ cookies (depending on your size) very easily. I made about 40 large cookies and the rest were smaller ones. Enjoy:)


Ritz Carlton Cookies
50+

565g (5 sticks) butter softened to room temp
5 eggs (room temp)
2 cups brown sugar packed
2 cups caster sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
6 cups plain flour
1tsp salt
4 cups choc chips/bits




1. Cream butter and two sugars until smooth and creamy on medium speed

2. Add eggs one at a time

3. Add vanilla and beat in on high speed until all combined and smooth

4. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda, and salt.

5. Add flour mixture to wet mixture 2 cups at a time.

6. Fold choc chips through.


Place cookie dough in fridge for about an hour.

Pre heat oven to 180C. Place large dessert spoonfuls of mixture on cookie sheet / baking tray spaced evenly apart. Place in fridge or freezer for a further couple of minutes before baking. While one sheet is baking set up the next sheet and leave in fridge or freezer until ready to be baked. Bake 10-12mins or until browning on top.

Take out and allow to stand a minute or two then cool on a wire rack. Repeat until all cookies are deliciously baked and you feel like you want to camp out in your kitchen until the smell subsides!

NB. I didn't actually remember to count all the cookies but there were at least 50, very likely to be close to 60 or more cookies. At least a dozen of them were small sized about the size of your hand when you make a circle with the first finger and your thumb, but count from the edge of your finger and thumb, not the inside circle.  I do recommend you refrigerate your cookie dough, unless its a cold winters day and your heater isn't working.

** I also froze a portion of the cookies and hid them at the back of my freezer so my kids  wouldn't find them....they did though!! ***

How to cut oranges for Fruit Break / Crunch and Sip

Oh yes, don't be fooled. There is an art to cutting oranges so that your child can enjoy them at fruit break! It is my understanding that most primary schools in NSW,  run the crunch and sip program. I see this in practice both as a parent and a primary school teacher. I thoroughly believe in this program as a good way to encourage children to enjoy fruit, vegetables, and water on a daily basis. However, there are some fruits that are a bit hard to work out how best to prepare for your child to enjoy. I feel I have mastered the sometimes problematic and beloved orange. If you cut the orange in quarters, many children will suck the juice out and leave the pulp but also can be messy and leave sticky drips on clothing. If you cut the skin off, and have the orange in pieces, it can leave sticky juice in the container or bag it's contained in which can cause a bit of a mess.
I truly believe the technique I am prepared to share is the best I have come up with - if I do say so myself - well I do and I did! This incredible technique keeps juice intact and I am confident the child will eat the majority of the pulp. I do recommend a plastic container, however, if you have a child/ren like mine and the container takes forever to return home. Then a zip lock bag is just as good.

Firstly, cut the orange into discs.

Discard the ends, as most fussy kids won't touch these. Then cut the discs in half.

Finally bag those juicy babies in a zip loc or more environmentally friendly container and allow your kids to enjoy! I love eating oranges myself in this fashion. It's the best!!

If you are as amazingly talented as I and would like to share how you prepare your crunch and sip treats for your kiddies, kindly share in the comments. I welcome all links to appropriate blog posts.