Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Chocolate Chip Cookies

There is much to be said about the "definitive" chocolate chip cookie. It is after all a matter of personal preference, and that is based largely on evolving taste experiences. Our family has enjoyed this version of chocolate chip cookies since Martha Stewart published her first book in 1982. I grabbed my first edition, dog-eared copy of "Entertaining" and made up a batch of these cookies~just as I have done for 28 years now~every 4th of July. It's tradition. You may ask what separates these from Toll House and every other recipe out there and my answer would be~personal preference. It's got flavor (buttery~caramel~salt tinged~right mix of chocolate) and texture (chewy with crispy edges and soft centers) and what it lacks in appearance, it more than makes up for in all the above categories. It doesn't require grinding up oatmeal, or finding 3 types of rare chocolate or unusual baking techniques. It's easy! So we just love these cookies, and you just might too!

RECIPE

We have slightly changed this recipe from the original~Alexis Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies~Page 93 in "Entertaining" by Martha Stewart.

2 sticks butter

1-1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon real vanilla

1-3/4 cups flour plus 1 tablespoon (just this little bit added makes a difference)

3/4 teaspoon salt (I like Kosher or sea salt~it has a cleaner flavor)

1 teaspoon baking soda

12 ounces "mini" chocolate chips

{When scooping flour, aerate the flour by fluffing with a butter knife or fork. Now dip your measuring cup in and level it off with the straight edge of a butter knife. This way your flour will measure more accurately.}

To begin:

Cream the butter and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla. Combine well. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. I use a whisk to mix the dry ingredients before adding them to the wet ingredients~now combine the dry and wet~mix. Add chocolate chips and mix again. At this point you can begin making your cookies, but they will be on the flatter side, or refrigerate for a few hours so the cold dough will hold it's shape a little better when baked. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes, or until the cookies are golden in color. Remove from oven, cool a few minutes before removing them onto cooling racks.

If you make some, tell me how you liked them. This recipe makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Drop by 1-inch scoop

I use Silpat's for most of my baking. It's green and easy to use. No parchment or foil to mess with. If you have 2-3 of these, it makes easy work of baking cookies. Now if you don't own Silpats or have the means to, then use the standard methods of parchment or greased lined cookie sheets, or foil for easy clean-up.

No~I'll admit these are not beauties~oh, but beware, they just might capture your taste buds as they did us.

(Cookies are shown in one of Martha's original copper trays she used to sell in her newsletter~pre-Martha Stewart Living.