Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are a very personal thing. Everyone has his or her favorite kind, and I've found people's feelings about the "right" or "best" kind of chocolate chip cookie to be very vehement and expressive. My college roomie, Shana, really talked up her grandma's famous chocolate chip cookies. When I had a chance to try the famous cookies, shipped to Shana in a cleaned coffee canister, I was disappointed. They were my least favorite kind of cookie: thin and crispy.

I think there are three main kinds of chocolate chip cookies. The first is the type loved by Shana, the thin, crisp, crunchy cookie. The second is its direct opposite, the chubby, cakey cookie. More akin to muffin than cracker, the cakey cookie typically has a uniform texture throughout.

The third type is my personal favorite. It's the perfect cookie: baked just long enough to have a slightly crisp edge, but not too long or you'll lose the chewy, buttery middle. The perfect ratio of chips to dough. Not too puffy, not too crisp. And I finally found the recipe that produces just such a cookie, on the fabulous Smitten Kitchen website. Here it is.

I only did two things differently from the recipe. The first was to double the recipe, because I needed to bring cookies to our church potluck last night. That was no problem at all. The second was to bake the cookies a bit less than the 18 minutes recommended in the recipe (if that sounds like a long time, remember you're baking at 300 degrees, not the usual 350). I hit upon 16 minutes as about the perfect length of time to bake to preserve that chewy cookie center.

Also note that this recipe includes nuts. I happen to like nuts in my cookies, but many people don't, and I really think this recipes would work well without. Definitely use semi-sweet chocolate chips, though. Milk chocolate is of the devil.

What's your opinion on chocolate chip cookies? Have a favorite type I didn't mention here?