Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

So after having an extremely productive day, I decided to reward myself with homemade chocolate chip cookies. I just went grocery shopping so I had an untouched bag of chocolate chips. The unfortunate thing is I bought **gasp!** generic chocolate chips. There was NO recipe for regular chocolate chip cookies on the back. My go-to cookbook when all else has failed is Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. Of course he had a fantastic recipe that was easy to follow and oh-so delicious! I did modify the directions a bit to fit with the time that I had to make cookies....so here goes.

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (do this the old fashioned way and not like I did...I won't go there)

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached and ditched the whole wheat idea.)

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 t vanilla

2 cups Chocolate Chips (this is a whole bag....how convenient!)

1. Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugars; add the eggs one at a time and beat until well blended. Add the vanilla.

2. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. (I used a wire whisk.) Add 1/4 cup at a time to the butter/sugar/egg/vanilla mixture until completely blended. (I continued to use the mixer at a slow rate. You may choose to do so by hand.) Stir in the chocolate chips. (This has to be done by hand. The dough is too thick.)

3. Refrigerate cookie dough for desired length of time. (I had to jog today, so it was about 45 minutes after the park pit stop for Q.)

4. Preheat oven to 375 degree. (Check out some of my previous posts to see what I say about oven temps! Be aware of your oven!)

5. Drop by tablespoons onto greased baking sheets (or non-stick works too) and bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes.

6. Cool for 2 minutes on the sheets (This is essential! They will continue to bake here.) before using a spatula to transfer the cookies to a rack to finish cooling. Store in a covered container at room temperature for no more than a day or two. (Um, yeah. I don't plan on these lasting too long.)

My overall impression is that this is an excellent and simple recipe to follow. The cookies have a nice buttery flavor and just enough height to make them chewy. No flat chocolate chip cookies here!

Poor little fellows never stood a chance.