This recipe really is at the top of the charts for cookies. It was developed by America’s Test Kitchen for the New Best Cookbook, and it really is the best. They taste better than any gourmet cookie I’ve ever purchased, and freeze well (after they’re cooked) if you want to save yourself from eating them all in one sitting.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 c. + 2 T. flour (sometimes I’ve needed up to 1/4 c. more for texture)
1/2 t. soda
1/2 t. salt
12 T. butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and slightly cooled
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1 egg +1 egg yolk
2 t. vanilla
1-1 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 325. Put racks in upper-middle and lower-middle position. Spray or line baking sheets with parchment paper (Important!).

Combine flour, soda, and salt in a small bowl; set aside. In a mixer, beat sugars and butter until combined. Add eggs and then vanilla. Then add flour mixture and stir until combined. Add chocolate chips. (This dough comes together very quickly and can be made entirely by hand if you don’t have a mixer.)

Shaping; an essential part in getting these cookies to turn out looking like coffee shop’s cookies is the shaping. If you can’t be bothered, just drop them on the sheet. If you are intrigued, scoop a good-sized ball (1 1/2″-2″) of dough in your hands. Roll it into a ball, and then pull it apart.  Turn each palm until the jagged inside is now facing the ceiling and then push the two halved back together to form one cookie. Thus, the rounded part is now the bottom of the cookie, and what was the inside of the ball is now the top of the cookie. Place on the cookie sheet and repeat with remaining dough. These cookies spread a little, so give them a good 1& 1/2″ between each cookie. Bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating the two sheets halfway through.