Chocolate Chip: A Modern Classic

I never tire of chocolate chip cookies. They are the standard by which all other cookies are judged. I like a dense, soft, cakey cookie that's bursting with chips.

In junior high, my best friend Becca and I used to make quarter-batches of cookie dough for snacks on a weekly basis. This dough never saw the oven, going instead straight into our tummies. We had no fear of raw eggs.

On one occasion when we were particularly hungry, we tried to improvise at my house while my parents were dieting. This meant my fridge had nothing by way of fat except tub margarine. The low-fat dough didn't come out right, so we added milk. Still weird. We microwaved it to soften things up, which had the unfortunate side effect of melting the chips. As an absolute last resort, we baked the cookies.

They looked like cow patties; the dog wouldn't even touch them. But when my parents came home from work, they were so excited to see the cookies and so hungry from the diet that they devoured the whole plate.

I committed this recipe to memory when I was 13 to speed up the cookie-dough-making process, and I have used it ever since. I am proud to say that, as I push 30 years old, at least half of the dough now becomes actual cookies. This is a major accomplishment in my life. To save yourself from having to diet in order to consume your cookies, follow this recipe. It will give you plump, moist cookies that beg for a glass of milk.

Photo courtesy of Matthew, of course.

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
8 oz unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups flour
12 ounces high-quality chocolate chips

Preheat the oven and a baking stone to 375 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugars. Once all lumps have been pulverized, add the eggs and vanilla and stir until well combined.

If you feel proper, combine the salt, baking soda and flour in a separate bowl, then add to the butter and sugar mixture. I never do this. I just add the salt and baking soda right to the wet stuff, stir it up well, then add the flour a little at a time. Once all of the flour has been incorporated, add the chips.

Drop tablespoons of dough onto your preheated baking stone. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. The cookies will still be soft when you remove them to cool on wire racks.

After accounting for dough eaten raw, I got about 30 cookies.