Chocolate Chip Cookies – always a favorite

With the cooler weather I love the smell of baking in the house.  Chocolate Chip cookies seem to be a favorite of everyone….at least it is with my family and friends.  At almost every  function this is one of the things that I am always expected to bring…..and usually one of the first things gone.

Since I like to be the queen of ease I use an electric mixer for mixing up the cookies.  I follow the basic directions for mixing them up.  (See recipe below) I do prefer dark brown sugar over light brown sugar and I always like to add a few extra chocolate chips.  I don’t add the nuts, I find more people like them without, that is a personal preference.

I like to use a tablespoon scoop and level it for scooping out the cookies, this keeps them consistent in size.

When baking I put the first tray of cookies on the bottom rack and bake for half the time, I then rotate them and move them to the top rack and place a new pan in the bottom.  The lower rack browns the bottom of the cookies and the top rack browns the tops.

After taking them from the oven I leave them on the tray for a few minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

I hope your family and friends will enjoy them as much as mine does.

Traditional Chocolate Chip Cookies

MAKES ABOUT 3 1/2 DOZEN COOKIES  They are thin and crisp around the edges, thicker and a bit cakier in the middle. I bake the cookies on  ungreased sheets but lining the sheets with parchment will make cleanup easier. When the cookies come out of the oven, they are very soft. Let them cool on the sheets for a minute or two before transferring them to a rack.

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour + 2 Tablespoons
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips + 1/4 – ½ if you like more
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl set aside.

Either by hand or with electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes with mixer set at medium speed. Scrape sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Add eggs, vanilla, and water. Beat until combined, about 40 seconds. Scrape sides of bowl.

Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, 15 to 20 seconds. Add chocolate chips and nuts and stir until combined.

Drop batter by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, spacing pieces of dough about 1 inch apart. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking (from top to bottom and front to back), until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges begin to crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets for 1 to 2 minutes before transferring to cooling racks with wide spatula.

Printable Recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies (PDF)