Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am not a master cookie baker.

Nope. That job is reserved for my little brother.

Michael. (At age 8.)

I love him so much.

Since he was a tiny mite of a child:

(at age 5)

Michael has always Gotten-Into-Things. Meaning that he's really good at fixing things and breaking them and dropping eggs on the kitchen floor when he was three and doing it completely on purpose. When he was little he wouldn't color inside the lines. He had the other kids do his coloring for him.

Michael's an excellent cook, because when he cooks or bakes, he likes to experiment. He is always doing crazy things with these cookies, he whips the eggs, he whips the egg whites, he works his special 14-almost-15 -year-old-magic.

So his chocolate chip cookies are always the best. And I mean The Best.

Happy 15th birthday little brother. I love you.

xoxo

(Me and Michael now.)

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips or 2 cups store-bought chips or chunks

1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Whisk together flour, salt and baking soda.

Working with a stand mixer w/paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for about 1 minute until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until well blended. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce mixer speed to low and add dry ingredients in 3 portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated. On low speed mix in chocolate and nuts.

Spoon on tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between spoonfuls.

Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, for 10 to 12 minutes. Until light brown on edges and golden in center.

Allow cookies to rest for one minute. Then using spatula transfer to cooling rack.