Best Yet!

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

(makes 1 1/2 dozen 3-inch cookies)

2 1/8 cups bleached all-purpose flour (I only had unbleached)

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly

1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-2 cups chocolate chips or chunks (semi or bittersweet-we love these)

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2. Either by hand or with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chips.

"Shaping thick chocolate chip cookies"

3*. Start by rolling a scant 1/4 cup dough into a smooth ball. Holding the dough ball in the fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Each half will have a jagged surface where it was ripped from the other. Rotate each piece 90 degrees so that the jagged edge faces up. Jam the halves back into one ball so that the top surface remains jagged. Place formed dough onto parchment paper-lined 20x14 inch lipless cookie sheet, about 9 per sheet. (I broke this rule.) Dough can be refrigerated up to 2 days** or frozen up to 1 month-shaped or not.

4. Bake, reversing cookie sheets' positions halfway through, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15-18 minutes (start checking at 13 minutes***). Frozen dough requires an extra 1-2 minutes baking time. Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Serve or store in airtight container.

*Step 3 sounds much more involved than it really is. Mine turned out a little wonky but they were scrumptious!

**My second batch was done using refrigerated dough and I think they turned out better.

***Highly recommend taking them out between 13-15 minutes!! TIP: throw the pan straight into the freezer (not for long) to keep the cookies moist and chewy.

(recipe from the fool-proof Cook's Illustrated)