Leggo My Holiday Depression. That Was Bad. It’s A Post About Waffle Cookies.

Guys. I am so unmotivated that yesterday I decided to randomly take an IQ test to see how much dumber I’ve gotten over the years. Guess what? I’m not dumber at all! I’m smarter by a FULL POINT! And according to the scale, I’m “gifted but too freaking lazy and unmotivated and whiny to do a damn thing about it.” That’s an actual quote from the test! No it’s not! But it might as well be! So, it would be very easy to take the results of that test and beat the crap out of myself. It would, in fact, be the easiest thing. But I’ve slowly started to realize a few things. Maybe it’s the holiday season that’s warmed my cold heart. Maybe it’s the free Glen Hansard show that I creepily found out about and subsequently attended (it was life-changing and mind-blowing, thanks for asking!). Maybe it’s just maturity…but probably not that, since about an hour ago I had a long, angry conversation with my younger sister over a grudge I’ve been holding against a relative who dismembered my Zack Morris doll when he was five. The Zack Morris doll has been replaced. The emotions have not.

I think this is the time to try and live life as fully as it can possibly be lived. I’m not going to get any younger than I am right this second, so I think it’s time to just will myself to start. I have a habit of waiting– waiting for things to get better, for life to get less stressful, for more money to come in, for my life to measure up to the lives of others, for the fun to just start already. And thanks to that terrible habit, I know I have missed out on some great things. I once read that it’s really, really important to celebrate every good thing that happens to you, because once it’s gone, it’s gone, and you won’t have any way to remember how wonderful you felt if you don’t take even just a moment to be grateful, be surprised, and be happy. So I’m going to try to stop and celebrate every now and then. I figure that I spend so much time and energy complaining (91 posts and counting, guys! How are you all still reading this blog?), that I have some to devote to trying to be happy. I hope you’ll all join me, or at least try to. You know what would help? Waffle cookies. Waffle cookies would help for so many reasons. The first reason is they consist of three of the most awesome things known to man and woman: waffles, cookies, and chocolate. If there is a better triple threat to be found, tell me. But for now, let’s work!

Chocolate Chip Waffle Cookies (makes one dozen cookies)

adapted from How to Simplify

1/2 cup of brown sugar

2 tablespoons of white sugar (omit if you want a deeper flavor)

1/2 cup of butter, melted (browned if you want a nuttier flavor, which I did)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting (optional)

Now, grease and preheat your waffle iron. If you do not have a waffle iron, please purchase one immediately. It will change your life in only the best ways. Combine your sugar, butter, egg and vanilla and stir until mixed. Stir in flour and baking soda and continue until batter forms. Fold in chocolate chips, then drop batter onto iron by the tablespoon. Close iron, and heat for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, until the cookies are a golden brown. Very gently lift cookies using tongs, and place on wire racks to cool. Dust with confectioner’s sugar if you’d like.       Now, if you have a waffle iron, these will be ridiculously easy. If you do not, these will be impossible, so I’m very sorry and I’d be happy to drop some off at your place if you’d like. Really, I would, because these are so easy and fast and make other people very, very happy. I brought these to work as part of a holiday bucket o’ cookies, and two separate people have asked me to make them again. Now that’s something to celebrate. Speaking of celebrate, I hope you’ll all join me in supporting a good cause this holiday season. No Kid Hungry is a wonderful organization that provides hot meals for children across the country. Did you know that 1 in 5 American children lives in poverty? Twenty percent!!! That breaks my heart. If you can, please donate. If you can’t, please share the link, and either way, have a lovely, lovely holiday season.