The only chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need

A few weeks ago on a sunny, gorgeous fall afternoon, my work was done and Davis was still at school. I decided to head to the kitchen and bake chocolate chip cookies to surprise him with when I picked him up at school.  I love baking but in particular, I love baking in my kitchen on a sunny day with the windows open.

It seemed like such a luxury to whip up a batch of cookies in the middle of the day and I savored that time in the kitchen.  I also thought about how it's taken a while to find a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I wanted to make again and again but finally, I've found it.

These cookies are crisp around the outside but soft and chewy on the inside. Perfection. They can seem a little flat but when you take a bite, you know you've found cookie bliss.

Davis was quite happy when I greeted him after school with warm-out-of-the-oven cookies and my reward -- in addition to a cookie -- was seeing his happy face.  As I noted in a previous post, Davis' tree nut allergy complicates food a bit, but particularly when it comes to cookies. We can't grab a cookie at the local bakery after school as a treat like we used to so this was a nice way to bring him a treat that was safe for him.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Directions

**Please note, I find I need to bake the cookies longer than 8-10 minutes as recommended in the recipe. Watch the cookies carefully and add time by the minute if they don't look quite ready after the allotted 8-10 minutes. Don't hesitate to take them out of the oven when they are a bit soft in the middle because you can easily overcook them and ruin the consistency if you over-bake. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart