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The average person in the US will eat almost 20,000 cookies during their lifetime!
Do you love eating cookies? To make sure you’re eating the best possible option available, why not master the classic chocolate chip cookie recipe yourself?
In this blog post, we’ll teach you how to make chocolate cookies from scratch! Don’t be disheartened if it takes you a couple of batches to perfect this recipe.
Once you get the hang of this classic recipe, you’ll never eat store-bought cookies again. Keep reading to learn how to make the cookies!
Start With Simple Ingredients
Before you start baking, it’s important that you’ve weighed out all of your ingredients so that they’re ready to go! You’ll need:
- 1 cup of softened butter
- 2 cups of baker’s sugar
- 2 medium-sized eggs
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 3 cups of plain flour
- 2 cups of chocolate chips (or more depending on your tastes!)
You’ll also need to grease a baking tray. This should be done in advance to ensure the cookie mixture can go straight into the oven as soon as it’s ready.
Let’s Get Baking
The directions for making chocolate chip cookies are simple and once you’ve read them through a few times you’ll know them by heart!
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Beat the sugar and butter in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until creamy and pale in color.
- Crack the eggs and add them one at a time, slowly mixing them into the dough.
- Add the vanilla extract and salt.
- Sieve the flour into the bowl slowly and fold it into the mixture.
- Finally, add in the chocolate chips.
- Once everything is stirred together, drop spoonfuls of mixture onto your greased baking tray.
- Bake the cookies in the oven for ten minutes or until they look golden.
- Remove your cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on a wire rack.
Finally, it’s time to taste your delicious cookies! Make a pot of coffee and share them with family or friends.
Useful Tips for Baking the Perfect Cookies Every Time
Although this is a very simple recipe, it may take some time to master completely. There are many variables that can make getting the perfect cookie somewhat difficult.
Let’s take a look at a few ways you can ensure your cookies don’t come out too hard, soft, or cake-like!
Don’t Over Mix Your Cookies
It can be very easy to overmix your dough, especially the first time you make your cookies. However, this may result in very flat cookies that spread across the baking tray and turn into one giant cookie!
Furthermore, overmixing your cookie dough will mean that the ingredients will become warm which can also result in flat cookies!
If your dough appears too warm or runny, simply chill the ingredients in the refrigerator for half an hour before baking.
Overbaking Your Cookies
Even if your cookies look slightly underdone when you pull them out of the oven, you’ll be amazed by how delicious they taste after half an hour of cooling.
If you overbake your cookies you will end up with hard, crystallized bites that simply aren’t as doughy and delicious as they could be! Of course, this does depend on personal preference.
Using Too Much or Too Little Flour
Too much flour can be disastrous for your cookies as they’ll come out very dry and crumbly. Make sure your cup of flour is completely level.
If you have too little flour, your cookies will be too greasy and buttery which also makes for an unpleasant cookie experience!
Salted Butter
When you’re baking, it’s always a good idea to avoid pre-salted ingredients. If you like salty cookies, you want to be able to adjust the levels of salt in your dough by yourself!
By adding salted butter, you throw off your ratios. Before you bake your cookies, give the dough a little taste to ensure it’s the right level of saltiness for you!
Too Tall Cookies
If your cookies don’t flatten at all, then it’s likely that your oven is set to the wrong temperature. You may want to consider buying a thermometer to check the temperature manually.
However, it could also be that your dough was too cold when you baked it or that your butter and sugar mixture wasn’t creamed well enough.
Delicious Additions to Your Cookies
If you’ve perfected this recipe then it’s time to jazz it up a bit more! Why not add in some walnuts, orange rind, or swap one cup of white sugar for a cup of brown sugar?
There are many ways to alternate the flavors in your cookies. Experimenting with your favorite textures and flavors is the best way to find your perfect recipe.
You may want to add in your favorite snack foods such as salted pretzels or candies such as M&Ms.
Foods Guy offers some brilliant ways to make your meals more interesting by adding just a few simple extras. Check out his website!
Now You Know How to Make Chocolate Cookies From Scratch
Try making multiple batches and take note of all of your adjustments to figure out exactly how to make the perfect cookie to your tastes.
Now you know how to make chocolate cookies from scratch, why not move onto baking brownies, cupcakes, florentines, flapjacks, and scones?
When you’re comfortable with your baking abilities, bake a bunch of cakes and serve them to friends and family with a cup of tea. This is a great birthday party idea!
Have you enjoyed this article? Visit the rest of the website for more baking tips and tricks.
Many people find themselves wanting to go on a diet to lose extra pounds gained over the holidays. Gym membership skyrocket around January or February, and Google searches for the latest diets are on the rise as people seek to shrink their waistlines. Yet, after a few months, most people have quit their diets and or up to the same eating and exercise habits. So, what is it that makes people give up?
Take a look at some of the most common reasons why people call it quits on their diets and what you can do to change your fate.
Lack Of Patience
In today’s society, many people expect instant results. Far too many people have unrealistic expectations of the progress they can make in a short time. However, the safe way to lose weight is always slow and steady rather than overnight.
Avoid stepping on the scale only a few days after starting your diet. Instead, weigh yourself once every two weeks and rely on the way that your clothes fit to see if your diet is working.
Being Too Drastic
The way to lose weight is by effectively changing your lifestyle habits. However, it’s important not to drastically change the way you live to the point that is impossible to keep up with period extreme diets, and elimination diets aren’t sustainable ways of living. Instead, try to find a diet and lifestyle choice that will work for you long term. You’ll be much more likely to see and maintain the results that you want.
Binging
Often, people feel so deprived on their diets that after a few days, they give in to a binge. However, when you put in the effort of following a strict diet for several days, only two erase all your hard work with stuffing yourself, then there’s no point in dieting.
Don’t use cheating as a reward system once you make progress; it’s important to continue your restrictions until you’ve reached your ideal weight. At this point, you can start allowing yourself a little wiggle room.
No Diet Buddies
Studies show that people are much more likely to stick to a diet and exercise program if they have a support system. When you have a friend or family member who’s taking on the same commitment as you, you can help support each other during moments of weakness when you feel like giving up. If you’re surrounded by people who are eating junk food, and you’re eating a salad, it won’t be long until you cave. However, when you’re around people that are also making the same healthy choices, it becomes much easier to stick to them.
The bumps are back! No matter what you do, you can’t banish the acne that’s plagued you since you were a teenager.
It’s important to know that you’re not alone. The American Academy of Dermatology Association reports that facial acne is the most common skin problem in America and it affects about 50 million Americans every year!
One of the ways you can help clear up your complexion is by changing your diet. If you want to get rid of the acne spots for good, we have you covered! Keep reading to learn our top 8 foods for clear skin and some helpful anti-aging skin tips.
You Are What You Eat
The age-old adage seems to ring true to this day. If you eat healthy foods, your body feels healthy. But, if you eat crappy foods, you’re going to feel crappy!
Your diet affects more than your beauty too! Eating a healthy diet helps you prevent ailments like diabetes, cholesterol issues, and much more. If you’re unsure about how you should eat, ask your doctor for a complete nutrition plan.
If cutting some kinds of bad foods seems too difficult, try reducing the number of bad foods you eat little by little. Some bad foods, like sugar, can get addictive and that makes it difficult to kick the bad food habits. Another tip is to find a healthier kind of “junk food” like salted kale chips to swap for your regular junk food like potato chips.
Top 8 Foods for Clear Skin
Ready to get started cleaning up your diet so your skin will clear up too? Here are some of our favorite skin tightening foods and foods that help clear skin of blemishes and/or redness.
1. Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a great source of beta carotene, which acts as a natural sunblock and protects your skin from the harmful rays of the sun.
Fun fact, higher amounts of beta carotene can also give you a natural warm tone to your skin, giving you a healthy, sun-kissed glow without the sun damage!
2. Broccoli
Broccoli has a vitamin called lutein that works like beta carotene and a compound called sulforaphane, which claims some impressive possible benefits. Some studies suggest that it may even have anti-cancer properties!
There is also evidence that suggests sulforaphane can help you maintain your skin’s natural collagen levels.
3. Green Tea
Drinking green tea can also help improve your skin texture and appearance. A 12-week study found that drinking green tea every day can help reduce skin redness by up to 25%! That study also showed that green tea helped improve the moisture, texture, thickness, and elasticity of the participants’ skin.
4. Fatty Fish
No, we don’t mean you should eat overweight fish. Species such as salmon, mackerel, and herring, are excellent foods for healthy skin because of their fat content. The fats in these fish help reduce inflammation, which can cause redness and acne as well as improving the moisture content of your skin.
Fats from fish also contain a good amount of vitamin E, which is one of the most important antioxidants for your skin! Vitamin E is great for protecting your skin against damage from free radicals and inflammation.
5. Dark Chocolate
Chocoholics anonymous unite! Studies show that after 6–12 weeks of eating high-quality cocoa powder every day, participants reported thicker and more hydrated skin with better texture. Other studies suggest that people who consume dark chocolate saw improvements in the appearance of their wrinkles.
To get the most benefits (and keep your sugar intake low) make sure to pick dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa content.
6. Red and Yellow Bell Peppers
Bell peppers (like sweet potatoes) are also an excellent source of beta carotene, which your body converts into vitamin A. They’re also one of the best sources of vitamin C other than oranges! A major study showed that eating plenty of vitamin C reduced the risk of wrinkles and dry skin.
7. Avocados
Avocados contain lots of healthy fats that benefit many functions in your body, such as the health of your skin. They’re also a good source of vitamin E and vitamin E becomes more effective when taken with vitamin C (another avocado vitamin)!
8. Tomatoes
Tomatoes are an awesome source of vitamin C and also contain lycopene, which can help prevent wrinkles. Since fat consumption increases your absorption of carotenoids, why not pair your tomatoes with some low-fat cheese!
Bonus Tips for Aging Skin
Aging skin needs a bit more love to look its best. But, you only get one body and you can’t replace your skin, so it’s worth the effort!
Using the diet tips above will help your skin glow from the inside, but you’ll need to add some topical treatments into your repertoire as well.
Moisture is key! Use a good topical moisturizer on your face and neck area every day (twice a day, if you’re skin feels very dry). Also, drink plenty of water so your skin gets moisturized from the inside out as well as the outside in!
If you think you need more than diet to help rejuvenate your complexion, check out these aging skin solutions!
Glow From the Inside Out
You don’t have to change your entire diet to see benefits from the foods that make your skin glow. Making little changes by incorporating more of the best foods for clear skin while cutting out some of the bad foods yields visible results too!
These aren’t the only foods that help clear skin, so keep an eye out for other beauty foods at your local market. The more options you find, the easier it is to incorporate these healthy foods into your diet.
We hope you enjoyed reading this article and that you learned a few things about changing your diet to clear up your complexion. If you’re looking for more information about food, sports, lifestyles, travel, and much more, check out the rest of our blogs today!
Are you planning to go on vacation or on a business trip? The average person gains weight on vacation, and it takes up to six weeks to lose it.
Eating healthy when traveling can be a challenge. You want to enjoy yourself, but you also don’t want to lose all of the progress you’ve made when sticking to your regular routine.
Read on to learn how to eat healthy while traveling.
1. Make a Plan Before You Leave
You have some decisions to make before you leave for your trip. You have to decide if you’re going to completely go off the rails during your trip (not recommended), or if you’re going to find a balance between enjoyment and eating healthy.
You also want to have a plan for your travel day. This can be an exhausting day and completely throw off your schedule. It’s easy to order meals at the airport or on the plane.
You want to stay committed to your plan as long as you can. The best thing you can do is to get snacks before you leave – dried fruit, nuts, and protein bars are great options to stick in your carry-on bag.
2. Stay at Places with Kitchens
There’s a huge difference between staying at a place with a kitchen and a hotel. When you stay at a place with a kitchen, you have much more control over your meals.
You can cook healthy meals with ingredients that are local to the region you’re in. That allows you the flexibility to go out or stay in and cook.
Staying in a hotel doesn’t offer that option. You have to go out for every meal, which can seriously expand your waistline. The alternative is to order a salad at every meal. That can be boring after a while, and salads often aren’t the healthiest choices on the menu.
When you stay at a place with a kitchen, it’s much easier to balance food exploration with eating healthy.
3. Stay Hydrated
One of the first things to get thrown off course is hydration. As soon as you’re off your routine, you forget to drink water.
It’s absolutely necessary to stay hydrated during your trip. Bring a water bottle with you to sip on when you’re in flight and as you’re walking around your destination.
4. Balance Cultural Exploring with Healthy Eating
If you’re going away to a wonderful place like Singapore or Japan, you’re going to want to explore the culture. You absolutely should explore the cuisine and things to do in a particular place.
How can you do that in a way that’s healthy? Manage your portion sizes.
In the U.S. we’re accustomed to having piles and piles of food on our plates. You want to enjoy yourself but watch your portion sizes.
How to Eat Healthy While Traveling
You don’t want to be one of those people who gains weight because you went on vacation. Instead, you want to enjoy yourself while eating healthy.
How to eat healthy while traveling starts with a simple decision – that you’re going to eat healthy. Once you do that, then you can make a plan to eat well while you’re away.
Be sure to visit this site often for more food and travel tips.
Once upon a time drugs were something of a taboo subject. More recently, things have changed. We seem to be moving further away from the strict approaches that we once all knew, and to a more progressive culture.
Countries from all around the world deal with drugs in different ways. Today’s post takes a glimpse at five nations, and some resources which help to explain how they deal with the topic.
United States: Things are constantly changing
The sheer size of the United States means that drugs policies are always a difficult issue. In short, its policies are quite “standard” when compared to most other countries in the world. The link to the infographic we have featured perhaps highlights this the most, with the most renowned drugs controlled in some shape or form.
However, there have been some developments over more recent years. For example, in 2012 we saw Colorado and Washington legalize marijuana, and since then this has expanded to the likes of Alaska, Minnesota and Oregon. Other drugs have also been decriminalized, with the psilocybin and low-THC hemp falling into this category in certain regions.
Canada: It’s not as lucrative as you might think
As we all know, Canada has been in the news a lot over recent times due to its stance on cannabis. In 2018, it became only the second country in the world to formally legalize the drug – and this naturally created huge headlines.
The interesting part of this is that it hasn’t impacted society in the way that some may have initially anticipated. While the jury will still be out on the social impact, it’s the effect on businesses that we found the most interesting. Contrary to what most people may have thought, businesses aren’t really taking advantage. In actual fact, cannabis use has stagnated – meaning that many businesses who thought they would profit on the back of the new laws have been forced to close.
Dubai: One place where you certainly don’t want to hold drugs
A lot of the countries we are talking about today are quite accepting of drugs, but that can’t be said of this next nation. Out of everywhere in the world, Dubai has some of the strictest rules around and in some cases, will even sentence those caught with drugs to death.
Of course, not every case results in the death penalty, but this article is enough reason not to even consider drugs if you are planning a trip to the UAE.
Portugal: The big success story
As we’ve already seen, more and more countries are taking a more liberal approach to drugs. It would be fair to say that in a lot of these, the results are somewhat mixed. In the case of Portugal, this isn’t the case in the slightest.
Let’s remind ourselves that Portugal had an utterly terrible drugs record in the 90s. Then, in 2001, they changed everything. They decided to decriminalize all drugs, and the results speak for themselves. Instead of 1% of the population being supposedly addicted to drugs as they were previously, the country has turned on its head and has one of the best records in the world.
The Netherlands: The old classic
We don’t need to say much about the Netherlands’ policy on drugs; it has something of a reputation since it became the Netherlands-as-we-know-it back in the 70s. Over more recent times there have been some calls to have a more regressive approach to drugs, which have been condemned by many quarters. This article talks about some of these developments in more detail, to show some of the challenges what the Netherlands is facing when it comes to drugs.
