by Vi Burgess, Haley Mitchell and Rachel Lamb

executive editor, online & photography editor and senior editor

 Chocolate chip cookies taste like home. Doesn’t matter who you are,  there’s something in their gooeyness and chocolate chips and sugary scent that makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside. We baked these cookies for Fish Camp, so we made a ton (or, like, three batches, which is basically the same thing.). We chose chocolate chip cookies because most people love them; even so, some people still didn’t take cookies, so no pastry is perfect for all of the people who walked by that day. But they were really, really good: we got an assistant principal’s seal of approval and a few thieves from other clubs came over multiple times to steal some of the goodness.

We baked three batches of this classic recipe, from the Food Network. Each of our batches took around 45 minutes and made around 40 cookies. For the first batch, we forgot to add the dark brown sugar, so we thought that batch would be substantially sub-par. However, they actually looked the most visually appealing, staying in little golden-brown heaps that taste best when they’re a day old. For our second and third batches, we put in all of the ingredients, so they crinkled on top a little bit and got a lot flatter.   For fluffier (and drier) cookies, we recommend using half of the brown sugar in the recipe.

  Another great part about baking with friends is the amount of time just to hang out. While only two of us could effectively work on the mixing and scooping at a time, we had a good time chatting around the kitchen and collapsing on the couch while the third batch baked. These cookies would not have been as satisfying without spending time with friends, but the sugar and carbs at the end did not hurt either. We strongly recommend this strawberry apron, modeled by Haley, for a classic fifties look, laughs and photo shoots. No matter who you are, chocolate chip cookies are the best.