Chocolate Chip Cookies

During my baking extravaganza with Max he decided he really needed to make "his" chocolate chip cookies.  Really this is MY recipe but with the addition of his secret ingredient.  I'm not sure if it's normal for a 12 year old boy to think of Espresso as a good secret ingredient but Max likes to be different so here you have it.  My  recipe is similar to every other recipe out there for chocolate chip cookies except that I use a lot more brown sugar than regular sugar and I also add more flour.  I like a thick, chewy cookie instead of a crispy cookie.  I would like to say that I'm famous with all the kids in town for these cookies but the truth is I am famous for this cookie dough.  It is the most requested thing I make by all of the kids and there is rarely enough dough left over to bake any of them.  It is DELICIOUS!!   

I have given you my recipe below and added Max's "secret" to the end.  The pictures are all from his batch so I will have to add photos later when I make a regular batch.  Feel free to make them plain or with the addition, either way they are super yummy!  I will warn you that if you add the espresso you might not want to eat these late at night or you will never get to sleep!  btw- I did warn you all that he was trying to overthrow me from the blog, if I'm not careful it will happen!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 large eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

12 oz semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks (my favorite)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixer, cream butter with the two sugars until fluffy and light.  Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until fully blended.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.  Add to the creamed butter mixture just until mixed.  Mix in the chocolate chips.

Scoop cookies using a large ice cream scoop onto a silpat lined baking sheet leaving 2 inches between cookies.  Bake until golden brown and set approximately 13-15 minutes (depending on the size of your scoop). 

To make these Max's cookies- Add 1-2 Tablespoons of instant espresso powder into the batter when you add the eggs.  Try not to eat too many or you will never get to sleep again!