Enhancing Your Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe with Unique Ingredients

Everyone loves to sit down to delicious snack of milk and cookies. Chocolate chip cookies are probably one of the easiest cookies to make and most popular to eat. But, sometimes plain old chocolate chip just seems a bit boring. Here are some great ways to add a zing to your favorite chocolate chip recipe!

Oatmeal: Adding oatmeal is a pretty standard addition to chocolate chip cookies. For those who like cookies a little crisper with some chew to them, adding oatmeal is a great bet. About two cups of rolled oats to your favorite chocolate chip recipe will give you a little different taste to those cookies.

Nuts: Chopped walnuts, pecans and even macadamia nuts can be a great addition to your chocolate chip cookies. They add crunch and a different flavor. Many people love nuts in their cookies. Beware of nut allergies, though!

Different Chocolate: Sometimes we don't think to simply use different chocolate-chocolate chunks, mini kisses, MnMs or any chocolate you can think of can be used instead of semi-sweet morsels.

Orange Zest (Peel): This is my Mom's favorite way to make chocolate chip cookies. Zest the orange with a zester, grater or fork. About 1 tablespoon will give you a nice hint of orange in your chocolate chip cookie. If you find it's too much, you can always adjust the amount to fit your tastes. Orange zest also goes great with the addition of oatmeal to chocolate chip cookies. Definitely unique!

Mashed Bananas: Add one cup of mashed RIPE bananas (the riper they are the more flavor you get) into your chocolate chip recipe. Banana and chocolate compliment each other very well. Call them monkey chocolate chip cookies and give everyone in your family and friends a new, different treat.

Apricots: Fruit lover? Cookies can really benefit from the addition of a bit of nutrition. Adding one cup of chopped dried apricots will give your chocolate chip cookies a fruity taste and you can feel a little less guilty about indulging in too many cookies.

Cinnamon: From fruits we move to spices. Building on the delicious mix of cinnamon and chocolate, adding 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to your chocolate chip cookie recipe offers a zip to the taste along with those yummy chocolate morsels. Cinnamon is an especially great addition to chocolate chip cookies in the winter months. Fix yourself a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy a cozy treat!

Ginger: Something a little less traditional in the spice department. The addition of ¾ cup of finely chopped crystallized ginger is a great way to add a surprising ZING to your chocolate chip cookies. Unlike cinnamon, ginger is less often used with chocolate so it will be a delicious surprise for all those who sample.

Coffee: For the coffee nut in you, add 2 ¼ teaspoons of finely ground espresso beans to your chocolate chip cookies. Not only will you get a zing, but a bit of a caffeine boost from this tasty treats. Coffee lovers will really enjoy getting that great taste of coffee in their dessert!

Crisp Rice Cereal: Looking for a little extra "crunch" that regular chocolate chip cookies don't provide? Add 2 cups of rice crisp cereal (Such as Rice Krispies) and enjoy every crispy crunchy of your best chocolate chip recipe.

These are just a few additions you can add to make your chocolate chip cookies extra special. When you're craving chocolate chip cookies, but don't want the same old thing, try some new ideas to find your enhanced ideal chocolate chip cookie. Don't forget to experiment with your ideas or mix and match some of these ideas-you never know what tasty treat you'll come up with!