Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I spent the afternoon today at Donna's with her and Coco, cooking and hanging out (what else do we do?). Donna holds Martha in high regard (rightfully so) and we decided to whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies that she had bookmarked in last month's Everyday Food magazine.

As the name of the recipe attests, these are the ultimate chocolate chip cookies, gooey in the middle and slightly crisp on the edges, buttery and sugary and chocolaty. Just like a chocolate chip cookie should be. The recipe is quite large and seems like a huge amount of butter sugar chocolate and butter, so I guess it would be okay halved, but what's the harm in having a stash of frozen chocolate chip cookie dough in the fridge? And really, after tasting how good these come out of the oven, they probably won't be going in the freezer.

Prep time: about 15 minutes

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips

8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped (use a good kind!)

1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange oven racks to upper and lower thirds of oven, preheat to 350 degrees.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the first four (dry) ingredients.

3. In a larger bowl using a mixer, beat together butter and both sugars until combined and light & fluffy. Reduce speed and beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Mix in flour mixture in three batches until just incorporated; then fold in the chocolate chips and chocolate chunks.

4. Using a large spoon or better yet, a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop, drop dough onto lined baking sheets about 2-3 inches apart. You should have about 12 cookies. Store the remainder of the dough in the fridge for the time being.

5. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden. Take the cookies out of the oven and let sit for 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. After the pans cool down a little, bake the remaining dough using new parchment.

Martha's recipe originally calls to refrigerate all the dough for an hour before baking. Though I sure this will yield even fluffier and chewier cookies, we didn't have the patience for this. And guess what, I thought our cookies were just as chewy and fluffy as any I've ever tasted.

11/4/09 Update: Visit Donna's blog to see what other goodie we made that day!!!