I love finding new recipes. I also love baking. So, whenever I find a recipe I like I’ll add my own touches to make it my own. The following is one such recipe. I made a few changes and tested it on a few musician friends. Musicians are great guinea pigs. They’ll try anything, and they’ll give you honest feedback. This recipe is musician tested and musician approved.

ORANGE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon orange zest*
• 1 teaspoon orange juice
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet or white chocolate)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grate one medium to large orange into a small bowl and squeeze its juice into a separate small bowl. Set both bowls aside. Stir flour, baking soda and salt into a medium sized bowl and set aside. Cream softened butter, sugar and brown sugar together in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs and add orange zest and orange juice. Mix until well blended. Stir in dry ingredients in small increments until well blended. If dough is too stiff add small amounts of water until desired consistency. Add chips and walnuts, if desired. Drop tablespoons of dough onto ungreased baking sheets and bake 10 to 12 minutes.

*Orange zest is another name for grated orange peel.