Busy Mama's Cookie Pie

There is nothing like a homemade chocolate chip cookie, especially in the Fall. Fall weather really gets me in a baking mood, but with 2 busy little boys at home during the school day, and 3 school-age girls who come home mid-afternoon, it's hard to block a huge chunk of time to dedicate to cookie-baking.

For me, the tedious part is putting all those little balls of dough on the pan. It can take several rounds of bowl-to-pan-to-oven-to-cooling-rack to get all those cookies baked. I like to simplify and shorten this step by pressing the entire (single) batch of dough into a pie pan. I call it Cookie Pie, and the kids think it's great, even though it's just a giant cookie. Use your regular chocolate chip cookie recipe (I use Betty Crocker), then bake for about 22-25 minutes. You'll want to keep an eye on it after about 20 minutes, as ovens vary.

You could probably use any cookie recipe, but this is the only one I've tried. You can also use a square or small rectangle pan, and slice it into "cookie bars."

To make it a little "healthier" I use white whole wheat flour for half the flour. Still not what I'd call healthy, but hey, it's something. I have also found fresh, locally rendered lard at the farmer's market, which I substitute for the butter, and it makes the cookie nice and flaky!