When I was little my grandmother always had a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies sitting on her kitchen counter. They weren’t the large cookies you see now days in bakeries. They were relatively small, perfectly round, two bite cookies. The cookies always had a soft interior, and were slightly crisp on the edges.

My grandmother would sit us down at the kitchen table, pour us a cold glass of milk (put into commemorative Snoopy glasses from a popular fast food chain), and hand us a plate of her delicious cookies. When my grandparents sold their home I remember thinking, “All I really want to have is the Snoopy glasses and my grandmother's chocolate chip cookie recipe.” Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get either one, but it started my search for the chocolate chip recipe of my childhood.

Throughout the years I have made my share of cookie recipes, both professionally and personally, but nothing has quite come close to my grandmother's delicious cookie until now.....  David Lebovitz is a pastry genius! I love his recipes, particularly his recipe for chocolate chip cookies. They are the closest recipe to my grandmother's I have come across so far. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie RecipeAdapted from David Lebovitz
Makes two dozen cookies

Ingredients:

4 ounces (115g) salted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup packed (110g) dark or light brown sugar
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup (180g) flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt or kosher salt
1 1/3 cups (200g) coarsely chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1 cup toasted nuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or by hand, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar just until smooth and creamy.

2. Beat in the egg and the vanilla.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

4. Stir the flour mixture into the beaten butter until combined, then mix in the chopped chocolate (including any chocolate dust) and the chopped nuts.

5. Cover and chill the batter until firm. (It’s preferable to let it rest overnight.)

6. To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

7. Form the cookie dough into rounds about the size of a large unshelled walnut. Place the mounds evenly spaced apart on the baking sheets, and press down the tops to flatten them so they are no longer domed and the dough is even.

8. Bake the cookies for ten minutes, rotating the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies look about set, but are not browned.

9. Remove from the oven and quickly tap the top of each with a spatula, then return to the oven for two to five more minutes, until the tops of the cookies are light golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cookies cool.

Storage: The cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to five days in an airtight container. The dough can be refrigerated for up to one week or frozen for one or two months.