Basic Butter Drop Cookies

Basic Butter Drop Cookies
MAKES 3 DOZEN COOKIES

This is considered to be the forerunner of the Toll House
Cookie, and it appears in many old American cookbooks. When
chocolate-covered candy bars became popular in the mid-1900s, creative
cooks added those confections, cut into pieces, to this basic
dough. Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, and Heath Bars were used most often.

l/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1A cup granulated sugar
1A cup tightly packed brown sugar
1 egg
l/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
l/2 teaspoon salt
l/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease 2 or 3 cookie sheets.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with the granulated
sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Combine the flour, salt, and
baking soda. Blend the flour mixture into the creamed mixture, until
well mixed. Drop teaspoons of the dough on the cookie sheets, about
2 inches apart. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Do not
overbake.

CURRANT DROPS: Blend 1 cup currants into the basic dough.

PEANUT BUTTER CHIP COOKIES: Blend one 6-ounce package peanut
butter chips into the basic dough.

BUTTERSCOTCH CHIP COOKIES: Blend one 6-ounce package butterscotch
chips into the basic dough.

CANDY BAR COOKIES: Add 1 cup chopped chocolate-and-nut candy
bars, such as Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, Heath Bar, or almond or plain
milk chocolate bars to the basic cookie dough.