ITT we talk about baking

[IrishLake]

Ok, so the wife of my boss makes the absolute best chocolate cookies ever. EVER. She closely guards her secret recipe. They are always thick, but light and fluffy. They are perfect. CCCs are not my favorite cookie, but I enjoy making them for others. I have tried and tried again to replicate her recipe, with no luck. Last time I tried was last weekend. All I know of her recipe is that she uses butter flavored crisco, because my boss has seen the wrappers in the trash when she bakes them. I've tried using cake flour instead of all purpose flour. I've chilled the dough before baking. I've used baking powder instead of baking soda. Nada. I've made some great cookies, but they do not maintain their thickness like hers do.

Any ideas?

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by IrishLake

Ok, so the wife of my boss makes the absolute best chocolate cookies ever. EVER. She closely guards her secret recipe. They are always thick, but light and fluffy. They are perfect. CCCs are not my favorite cookie, but I enjoy making them for others. I have tried and tried again to replicate her recipe, with no luck. Last time I tried was last weekend. All I know of her recipe is that she uses butter flavored crisco, because my boss has seen the wrappers in the trash when she bakes them. I've tried using cake flour instead of all purpose flour. I've chilled the dough before baking. I've used baking powder instead of baking soda. Nada. I've made some great cookies, but they do not maintain their thickness like hers do.

Any ideas?

I have two thoughts about this:
1) Beat the crisco, sugar and eggs very well before adding the flour mixture, and
2) Try adding some Cream of Tartar to the flour mixture. It's the ingredient that makes Snickerdoodles so soft/fluffy.