Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay its Friday the 13th! What is up with Friday the 13th anways!? Why is everyone so scared of this date? If one should be scared of anything, it should be about the calories they consume when they eat desserts. For heaven's sake, is all this butter and sugar necessary? And the answer is YES! And yes I am scared of eating desserts but you only live your life once! So eat a little and do a little extra workout for the day!

And oh yah, the cardinal truth of baking - if you want the ultimate decadent taste, then you got to follow the recipe. Its just like going to to movie theatre and eating no butter popcorn! No thank you! Id rather eat one cup of butter popcorn than eating 4 cups of non butter popcorn. So back to the topic of desserts, I got the BBs today in me! You know BBs - "Baking Bhoot" - for non desis that means "the spirit of baking" has consumed me today. So the first project was Chocolate chip cookies, followed by Velvet Cocoa Cake for my Americanized Haldi Kunku, followed by Herb Foccacia Bread for sandwiches tomorrow, and ending with Garlic Cheese Knots. Wish me luck.

When it comes to baking, I do not experiment. I follow recipes blindly. So here is the recipe for the chocolate chip cookies from dear old Martha. Enjoy!

Ingredients


1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips, or chunks
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine salt

Directions

Evenly position 2 racks in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. (on convection setting if you have it.) Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone sheets. (If you only have 1 baking sheet, let it cool completely between batches.)
Put the butter in a microwave safe bowl, cover and microwave on medium power until melted. (Alternatively melt in a small saucepan.) Cool slightly. Whisk the sugars, eggs, butter and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth.
Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a wooden spoon; take care not to over mix. Stir in the chocolate chips or chunks.
Scoop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared pans. Wet hands slightly and roll the dough into balls. Space the cookies about 2-inches apart on the pans. Bake, until golden, but still soft in the center, 12 to 16 minutes, depending on how chewy or crunchy you like your cookies. Transfer hot cookies with a spatula to a rack to cool. Serve.
Store cookies in a tightly sealed container for up to 5 days.