By Golly, We May Have Done It!

The absolute greatest part of my job is being able to work with people who love food almost as much as I do. 

I only say "almost" because it's impossible to love food as much as I do (trust that this is fact, not opinion), but a lot of people I work with come ridiculously close.

A coworker introduced me to her Baking Bible and it has changed my life. I'll be ordering it and all of Dorie Greenspan's other books immediately. What prompted the whole exchange were the Chocolate Chip Cookies from this book. I took one bite and I knew they were the chocolate chip cookies I've been searching for my entire existence.

Well, let me take that back. I have yet to find the perfect chewy cookie chocolate chip cookie - the ones at work come pretty darn close, so those will be hard to beat. But these... These are the perfect cookie for those who are a bit greedy and prefer the best of both worlds - crispy and chewy. 

I know. Before these cookies, I didn't even think it was possible either.

You Will Need:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt (The recipe calls for 1 teaspoon, but double it. Trust.)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or 2 cups store-bought chocolate chips)

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional, but recommended)

Center rack in oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment (you're going to bake these cookies one sheet at a time).

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, salt, and baking soda.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), beat butter on medium speed for about 1 minute, until smooth. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes or so, until well blended.

Beat in vanilla and add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer to low and add the dry ingredients in 3 portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated. 

On low speed, or by hand, mix in chocolate and nuts. 

At this point, the dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days, or frozen for later use. I wanted my cookies to be flat and crispy (don't worry - they're still soft in the middle!) so I didn't refrigerate mine before baking. If you want a thicker cookie, I would recommend chilling the dough before baking.

Spoon the dough into slightly rounded tablespoons onto baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie - they will spread!

Bake cookies one sheet at a time, rotating the sheet at the midway point for 10-12 minutes. I'm typically very cautious about over baking, so I timed mine to 9 minutes and added time if I needed to.

After you pull the sheet from the oven, let them cool for 1 minute before moving them and letting them cool on a rack to cool to room temperature.

Cookies all ready for the oven! I don't have a cookie scoop, so I just made really messy piles of dough into about a tablespoon size - no flattening of the dough required! They bake just fine.

Cookies all packed up and ready to go!

I had a meeting and it was my last day at the gym today :( so I packed a box for each. 

So I bet you're wondering how many cookies this will make... the answer is not enough.

I made pretty big cookies and what you see in the photo above is what you get (minus 1 because I did eat one).

And now I'm digging my nose into a book. That same coworker recommended some food-related reading, so stay tuned because I'm sure this will inspire my next proofing/fermenting/braising project.

Happy Baking!