The One with the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok, they may not be as good as Phoebe's grandmother's cookies, but they are definitely the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever made.

Oh, you thought I dropped off the face of the earth after my last post 3 WEEKS ago?? The truth is, we've just been busy around here...and by busy, I mean working all day, making dinner, cleaning and doing dishes, then sitting on the couch doing a mixture of tv-watching, paper-grading, lesson plan-writing, and generally surfing the web...you know, that kind of busy. Sadly, NOT the kind of busy that would make for an interesting and witty blog post about my fascinating life.

But I digress. Moving on to the amazing cookies. I found this recipe via my latest all-consuming obsession - Pinterest. The original recipe can be found here

I took some photos for you to document the chocolate-chip-y goodness.

Begin by hauling out your amazingly beautiful, ice blue KitchenAid mixer; one of my absolute favorite bridal shower gifts from my lovely mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and girlfriend-in-law (?).
Next, cream together 2 sticks of butter (almost enough to qualify for a Paula Dean recipe!) with granulated sugar and brown sugar.
Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla (that's twice as much vanilla as my usual chocolate chip cookie recipe, but it sure tastes WAY better).
Dissolve 1 teaspoon of baking soda in 2 teaspoons of hot water, then mix into the batter along with 1/2 a teaspoon of salt. Add 3 cups of flour, 2 cups of chocolate chips, and 1 cup of chopped walnuts. Your batter should look something like this:
Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto your baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
The finished product:
The most delicious chocolate chip cookies I've EVER eaten...deliciously crunchy around the edges and chewy ooey gooey in the middle.

AND a photo of me covered in flour to prove that I may possibly be the messiest cook in the world:
The original recipe says it makes 4 dozen cookies, but mine only made 3 dozen. The reason for this is twofold:
1. I tend to make my cookies a little bigger than most recipes call for; my idea of a rounded teaspoon is apparently a little off from others'
2. George and I probably ate the equivalent of several cookies worth of dough before it was cooked...whoops!

Enjoy <3