Chocolate Chip Cookies
Filed under:    Cookies

Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips (about 12 ounces)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, whisk together 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.

2. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. If desired, use a small ice-cream scoop for uniform-size cookies.

3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edge, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Variations:

COOKIE TART
To make a cookie tart, press three cups of this dough into a buttered and sugared 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom or a 9-inch pie tin lined with buttered, sugared parchment. Bake at 325 until edges are golden and center is almost set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool at least 20 minutes, and remove from pan. (Bake remaining dough as cookies at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes.)

THIN & CRISP
Follow the recipe for Soft & Chewy (above) increasing the amount of butter to 1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks) and the quantity of granulated sugar to 1 ¼ cups, and decreasing the amount of light-brown sugar to ¾ cup. Add ¼ cup water to the recipe with the other wet ingredients. Bake until cookies are brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

CAKEY COOKIES
Follow the recipe for Soft & Chewy (above) decreasing the quantity of unsalted butter to 14 tablespoons (1 ¾ sticks); increase the granualated sugar to ¾ cup and use only ¼ cup light-brown sugar. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges and set in the center, 10 to 12 minutes.