Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tis the season for lots of recipe posts! (Also, I lost my battery charger and my camera is about to die, so I can't go on any major photo shoots.) I shouldn't be baking so much, but at least I have plenty of people to take the results off my hands. (But not before I sample too many, of course.)

I got this recipe from a friend years ago. (His name was Steve, but now I don't even remember his last name!) He said it was the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever, and he was right. I've made it several times and passed it on to many people because it makes cookies exactly as I want them: soft, thick and dense. Not hard, flat, gooey or crispy.

The full recipe is pretty large so I tend to just do half at a time, but sometimes I'll make all of it and use different types of baking chips in portions of the dough. One of my favorite candies to use is butterscotch baking chips. I also like M&Ms. This time I used the chocolate chunks because I thought it would seem homey.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. butter
2 c. dark brown sugar
1 1/2 c. white sugar
2 T vanilla
3 eggs
6 c. flour
1 1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. baking soda
2-4 c. semi sweet chocolate chips (or whatever chips you want)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375º. Mix butter, sugars and vanilla. Add eggs and mix well. Mix in flour, salt and soda. Finally, add baking chips to your liking. (As much as I like chocolate, I think the dough is so good on its own that it doesn't need an overwhelming amount of chocolate chips.)

The resulting mixture will be a bit dry and pretty firm. (Once I broke my parents' expensive mixer on it!) Scoop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on size of cookies. I find that it's best to take them out when they're barely getting golden brown on the edges and let them sit on the cookie sheet outside of the oven for a few minutes to cook/set. This keeps them moist for longer.

I know many people prefer their cookies warm from the oven, but I find these are best when they've cooled completely. You can eat them however you want, though, since I'm not a cop.

Okay, who wants more cookie photos? Can't just let them go to waste.