Okay. I made these cookies a couple days ago and used butter as some reviewers suggested. Although my family and sister-in-law said they were awesome and raved on and on about them, they turned out quite flat. So, I made them again last night and used the shortening as the original recipe says and I must say that even though I prefer to use butter for health reasons (especially my wonderful local organic butter)they turned out much better as far as the look of the cookie goes. Taste was about even with butter, but not near as flat. They were nice and round and perfect just like a cookie should be. So, I don't know if others have a problem with flatness using butter, but I did. In fact they were so flat that I couldn't even hardly get them off the sheet and they fell apart and were quite a mess. The taste made up for it. BUT with the shortening they are perfect the whole way around. These cookies are just delicious and quite easy to make. Do be sure not to overbake. I baked mine for 7 minutes, then let them sit on the sheet for a few minutes. They WILL seem like they are not done, but don't worry they will harden up a bit. They will harden enough to stay together, but remain chewy enough to think you're almost eating a brownie. Thanks so much for the wonderful recipe!

I've been making these for years & they are always a hit (my dad's office had a two-batch-per-week habit when I lived nearby). I think shortening is an abomination so I substitute the same amount of butter & omit the water. Perfect every time. And for best results mix with a wooden spoon, NOT an electric mixer. You'll get dense, chewy cookies that'll have the whole neighbourhood talking.

WOW!!! These are so good. I made them in mini muffin pans, I had a pan of 24 and a pan of 12 and the dough divided perfectly between them making 36 cute little 'bite brownies'. Just be sure you grease the mini cups. I used less chocolate chips, approx 1 cup because thats all I had on hand. Baked 9 minutes, and left to cool until I could pop them out of the pans.... perfect!

This recipe is sooo easy, and the cookies come out softly chewy and chocolatey, just like you would expect. I followed the recipe exactly as written, and wouldn't change a thing. If you make each cookie as a teaspoon, the batch makes almost 6 dozen cookies. They didn't spread out as much as one reviewer suggested. Instead, mine seemed to rise and get plump and airy. You do have to watch the cookies carefully to ensure that they are done enough, but not overdone. Also, do let them cool for several minutes in the pan before transferring. Otherwise, the bottoms of the cookies are too soft and the chips will drop out or stick to the pan. I like to line my baking sheets with aluminum foil so that I can let the cookies cool on the foil liner while I re-line the pan with new foil and start the next batch. Once the next batch is in the oven, I start transferring the cooled cookies from the foil liner onto a wire rack. This is a gerat recipe, and I will definitely be making it again!

These are OUTSTANDING! I'm glad I read the reviews first...if using a teflon coated cookie sheet, reduce time by at least 1-1/2 minutes (I did 5-1/2 min.s) as they tended to burn easily. I triped the recipe & used only 4 cups of choc. chips, which was also plenty. My family couldn't get enough of them and my co-workers have all asked for the recipe! A hit with me; thank you.

These cookies were so awesome. I split the batter into 5 different variations: walnuts added, coconut added, chunky peanut butter added, caramel bits added, and original recipe. My husband said the original was a bit too chocolate-y for his taste, but he totally dug the peanut buter variation. I think my favorite is the coconut one. It doesn't taste too coconut-y, just adds a bit more stability to the cookie and a bit more chewiness. The coconut and peanut butter variations will become cookie staples in my dessert repetoire.

These were a big hit with my friends. Since I didn't want to use a ton of cookie sheets for the tsp sized cookies I made three sheets normal and then placed the rest of the dough in heart shaped muffin pan. I actually liked the heart shaped cookies better than the normal.

Wow, these cookies were to die for. I took a batch to the office and they were gone in a flash. Everyone made great comments about them and how yummy they were. Easy and quick recipe! A+

I doubled the recipe and spread the batter onto a large baking sheet and just made brownies. They were excellent! I'm making them again today.

WOW! these cookies are great! super rich inside and chewy...totally cured my chocolate fix for the day! i'll definately be making these reguralely!