Super-Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay, we don't usually cook like this. But once upon a time when our house was strictly vegan, Keebler Soft Batch cookies were the dairy-free guilty pleasure in the cupboard. This was many years ago, my children; it was during our six-year tenure at The Belvedere's corner apartment. #1001 loomed high above Union Avenue, and it featured the following: super-cheap, utilities-included rent, an unbelievable view of downtown Memphis, FedEx planes flying in at all hours of the night, and fire engines blaring down one of the six lanes of traffic at all times. Every crazy story we have comes from this time period, and really, this particular place. It also was where we learned to cook...in a cramped, dark kitchen with hideous 1980's appliances and little more than 2 square feet of counter space, no less.

So Soft Batch may no longer be dairy-free, but I still crave them at odd times. Late one night last week, it was decision time: would we make a grocery store run or find a recipe to try? This one is so close it's scary -- as is the amount of butter it requires. Still, it tastes a whole like the perfect cookies from the bright red package I remember.