Secret Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies

As a blogger I feel like I am always looking for the latest and greatest recipes to share.....the chocolatiest cookies, the cheesiest bread, the casserole loaded with as many ingredients as humanly possible! In this Pinterest-loving world we live in (and believe me, I am one of those crazy Pinterest lovers) it seems that every recipe is on steroids.  No longer are mere brownies acceptable - heaven forbid! We must now load the humble brownie with cookie dough....AND Oreos....AND caramel....and why not pretzels, too? And you know, my dear readers, I have plenty of posts on this site that contain all of these ingredients- all at once, of course! And often when I make these baked-goods-on-steroids, my children and husband have one and are done. The rest get sent to my husband's office. Not that they aren't delicious, they certainly are......but, it makes me wonder if I need to re-visit my roots every once in awhile and crank out a good 'ol chocolate chip cookie to satisfy the troops. And it seems, this is what they really long for.....not an oatmeal, flax-laden, cinnamon chip filled, pumpkin cookie.....but, a simple chocolate chip cookie.

Now, on the outside, these cookies look as simple as you can get.....but, that secret ingredient.....hmmmm....it really did add a bit of pizazz! How can a simple 1/4 cup of cream cheese really give a chocolate chip cookie such....depth???.....but, without changing the basic molecular yummy-ness of what a chocolate chip cookie is all about?! Try this recipe and see for yourself. I don't know if I can go back to making chocolate chip cookies without it! Oh, and the proof? Well, this family of mine who is used to homemade baked treats being offered to them every other day.....the ones who eat one only and tell me to send the rest to dad's office.....well, they ate the whole darn batch (minus a cherished few that I gave to my neighbor and the kids' teachers)....there were none left to share after that.....every one of them gone! And the fun thing is I kept the dough chilled in the fridge for three days and baked them to order.

Thank you to the blog Just A Taste (an awesome blog, by the way!!) for sharing this secret ingredient with the world and opening our eyes to all that the chocolate chip cookie is truly meant to be! Here is the recipe verbatim from Just A Taste:

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
1/4 cup cream cheese, at room temp
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, cream cheese, sugar, light brown sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture, beating to combine, then stir in the chocolate chips.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for a minimum of 2 hours and up to 3 days.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats. 
Drop 2- to 3-tablespoon mounds of dough onto the baking sheets, spacing the mounds at least 2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 2 minutes then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.