Chocolate Chip Fabulousness

Baking cookies might be one of those unhealthy obsessions I'll eventually have to deal with. It's one of my favorite ways to spend time, and I swear it's almost as therapeutic as a long run. Almost. I especially adore the basic drop cookies: oatmeal raisin, peanut butter and chocolate chip. It feels so 'done' to say that I love chocolate chip cookies, but I do. And like many other homemade wonders, I'm such a cookie snob. I may love them, but I'm not going to eat a crappy cookie.



I like thick, chewy cookies and that is precisely why this cookie recipe is such a winner. Last year I attempted to find another go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. I tried about five new recipes, a few more than once, and after my third attempt to love these cookies my husband begged me to stop the charade and admit that my tried and true chocolate chip cookie recipe would always reign supreme. He was so right.

Every time I make these, I get someone begging for the recipe. I have tried adjusting the ingredients, it's a bit heavy on dry stuff, but the original recipe prevails. Someone worked hard to create this recipe. I'm sure of it, I like to imagine someone toiling away in a basement kitchen (those exist, right?) making batch after batch of cookies. Sweat on their brow, flour in their hair. Oh my, see what I've done there? I turned my favorite cookie recipe into a fairy tale. Soon elves will pop out and a wizard will slay a rogue singing soldier mouse.



I've been making these for over 10 years, and my cookbook shows the love. On the subject of the cookbook- The Village Baker's Wife- this is a must have. I could go on and on and on about it and the bakery they own that I wish I lived in, but I won't. Not now at least, there are cookies to attend to.






Chocolate Chip Cookies
From "The Village Baker's Wife" by Gayle and Joe Ortiz

Ingredients

1 cup (8 oz) butter, room temp
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (seems like a lot, but it's worth the extra arm strength needed to mix it up!)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preaheat your oven to 350 degrees. Eat an apple so you're not so tempted to scarf down all the dough as you form the cookies later. Trust me. You'll want to eat it all. Get out your baking sheets, use parchment paper if that's your thing. They come off fine without it, but it makes for easy cleanup.

Cream the butter in a large bowl, either using a mixer or by hand. Add the sugars and mix until combined. Beat in 1 egg and the vanilla. Add the remaining egg and mix- but not too much, just until it comes together nicely. Set this gorgeous concoction aside.

In a different bowl, mix these ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the dry mixture to the buttery mixture (I like to do it in thirds). Mix it until it is just combined, then dump in your chocolate chips and combine.

Using a large spoon, scoop and drop a good dollop of dough (I generally use a heaping tablespoon or two) on the baking sheets. Don't mess with them after you drop them- leave them be!

Bake for 10-14 minutes. Don't go far, keep your eye on them. I like to take them out when they look close to done and soft but not too golden brown. I let them sit on the rack while I prepare another pan. But if you want them crispier, by all means, bake them longer.

They don't last long, be warned.

Note: I've substituted all kinds of things for chocolate chips in this recipe and it almost always works wonders- trail mix, mini peanut butter cups, dried cranberries. The 'base' is so great, it compliments almost anything that might make you think 'that would be good in cookie'.