Our Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

 I know everyone has their favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, and everyone says they have found the best one, the worlds greatest, but you guys these are really the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had! I've been making this recipe for years and I have never found anything that comes close, not even a professional bakery.

I do believe "the best" cookie has a lot to do with the way you like your cookie, so to me these are perfect but to someone else they may be awful. David loves these straight out of the oven when they are warm and gooey.  I hate warm cookies so I think these are absolutely perfect the next day. Although I will eat them straight out of the oven and my husband still devours them even when they're not warm.

These cookies were the first thing I learned to bake and I learned a lot of things I had never heard of. I've shared three things that I believe will really make or break your cookie, some of you (most) probably already know all of these things. But if you are a novice baker like me, listen up!!

My 3 Tips:

1. Make sure your butter and eggs are room temperature. Don't use eggs and butter straight from the fridge, but you don't want them to sit out on the counter too long either. I know my butter is ready when I can push my thumb into it and leave a mark but I don't destroy the shape of the butter. For the eggs I usually consider them ready when I can still feel a little chill when holding them in my hand, if I can't feel a chill at all I know they have gotten too warm. Also do not microwave to speed up time of warming, I had to learn this the hard way.

2. Creaming the butter is so important! I had never heard of this until learning how to make these cookies I didn't know there was such a thing. You want to make sure the butter and sugar blend together into a nice whip like consistency.

3. I always make sure to chill my dough before I put it in the oven. I will roll out a few pans of cookies and put them in the fridge for 5 minutes and then put the rest of the dough in the fridge and roll it out as I move along. 

Ingredients: 

- 3 cups Flour

- 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

- 2 sticks unsalted butter

-  1 cup packed brown sugar

- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 

- 2 large eggs

- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

- 2 Cups semi sweet chocolate chips. 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. In a bowl whisk together dry ingredients. 

2. Cream butter and sugar in electric mixer. This takes 2 to 3 minutes in my kitchen aid. You can do it by hand (I've done it) it just takes awhile.

3. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated then stir in vanilla. 

4. Add dry ingredients in three additions, until each is completely incorporated. 

5. Stir in the chocolate chips and form 1 1/2 inch balls or whatever size you desire. 

6. I let mine cook for 12-13 minutes, but everyones oven is different so I say start with 10 minutes and see where your at and add time until you figure out the correct amount of time needed.

*Martha Stewart recipe.