found: the best cookie recipe

Alright, so lets be honest, I am always on the hunt the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe.  My sister-in-law is a master baker and even she says she never has luck with this cookie staple.  Disheartening?  A tad.  I mean, if she can't do it, I probably have next to no chance of besting her.  But upon our trip eastward a few weeks ago we walked into her kitchen and low and behold, what what on her kitchen counter?  Beautiful, crazy delicious, perfectly soft chocolate chip cookies.  She finally found a winner in this recipe and, of course, I couldn't wait to go home and try it out.

Now, I'm a bit of a chocolate chip cookie snob.  My ideal cookie has a high chip to dough ratio, is nice and plump, and is soft, not cakey.  A common cookie issue. 

So last week, I pulled out all the goods and got baking.  And you know what?  This recipe is crazy easy and pretty much idiot proof.  The only kicker is that you have to refrigerate the dough for an hour or two before you bake it, but besides that they come together super quick.  And chilling the dough helps the cookies stay nice and plump - no more flat, sad cookies around here - so it's totally worth the extra prep time in my book.  And, unlike lots of cookie recipes, these stayed SOFT instead of cakey - my cookie texture of choice, for sure.

We've found a winner!!

And my newest happy discovery?  You can freeze these little cookie dough balls and pop them in the oven for a few more minutes and voila!  Fresh, soft, warm chocolate chip cookies for dessert.  I'm going to have to limit that practice in our house or, well, my waistline might be sad about it...

And a few of my humble cookie making notes:

• The recipe doesn't call for salt, but I added just a little more than a 1/2 tsp - I made it more of a heaping half teaspoon really.

• I melted the butter in the microwave for 45 seconds and then put it straight into my Kitchen Aid bowl and went ahead with the recipe without waiting for it to cool too much. 

• And, also, if using frozen dough, bake for about 13 minutes instead 10.