Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Picture the scene: its 10:30 pm and I am about to start baking cookies when (gasp) I realize I only have two sticks of butter in the fridge. I already promised to make Chocolate- Chip cookies and Lemon cookies for a BBQ tomorrow. I have three options: 1) make only one batch, 2) go to the 24 hour grocery store in the sketchy part of town, or 3) improvise.
Of course, I choose option 3.
I did a quick scan of the fridge and saw that I had the two sticks of butter, crisco, sour cream, plain yogurt, eggs, and 1/2 a lemon. My pantry was stocked with everything I needed to bake: four, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla. So I thought for sure I'd be able to come up with something.
Working off of the recipe on the chocolate chips bag, I modified a few things, took a deep breath, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. The result: the most moist chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten. These babies are like little cakes! So light and fluffy.



For batch #2 I promised to make lemon cookies, so I adjusted the recipe a bit, added some honey and lemon zest and made little lemony pillows which Gian Luca loved. We had to restrain ourselves from eating too many. After all, it was midnight when I finished baking.


The recipes:
Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Cookies:

Ingredients
1 stick salted butter, softened
1 tbsp crisco ( or other vegetable shortening)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tbsp plain yogurt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bag semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets and set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together; set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, shortening and sugars together until light and fluffy. ( you can do this with a mixer or by hand). Add the egg, and vanilla extract; beat until well blended. Add the sour cream and yogurt and fold together until well blended. Stir in the four mixture until fully incorporated. Add the chocolate chip and stir.

Drop tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake on middle rack for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies immediately to a cooling surface.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Honey Lemon Sour Cream Cookies

Ingredients
1 stick salted butter, softened
1 tbsp crisco ( or other vegetable shortening)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tbsp plain yogurt
1 egg
Zest of 1/2 of a lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets and set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together; set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, shortening, sugars and honey together until light and fluffy (you can do this with a mixer or by hand). Add the egg, and vanilla extract; beat until well blended. Add the sour cream,yogurt and lemon zest and fold together until well blended. Stir in the four mixture until fully incorporated.

Drop tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake on middle rack for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies immediately to a cooling surface.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.