MEMA’S CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIES

Anytime ANN PACK (Nashville, Tennessee) visited her Mema, BERTHA DILLON (Crossville, Tennessee), she was always included in the cooking and baking process. “Our favorite thing to make together was chocolate-chip cookies,” Ann recalls. “Mema always brought a stool or a kitchen chair for me to stand on so that I could reach the counter. We always wore our little aprons and we had so much fun.”

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup white sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 stick butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large egg whites

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips cooking spray

1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2 In a medium bowl combine the flour, salt, and baking soda, stirring with a whisk to remove any clumps. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the white sugar, brown sugar, and butter at medium speed until well blended. Add the vanilla and egg whites and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Add the flour mixture and the chocolate chips and beat until blended.

3 Spray cookie sheets with cooking spray. Drop the dough by level tablespoonfuls onto the cookie sheets, placing the cookies about 2 inches apart.

4 Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets for 3 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool.

MAKES 3 DOZEN COOKIES.