Is there anything better than a chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven?  I think not.  Here is one of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes from Nestle.

I went for a lot of years refusing to bake cookies because they never came out the way I wanted them to, light and fluffy and not thin and crunchy.  I’ve experimented a lot so in this recipe I’ve included the tips that I’ve figured out over the years for making almost perfect cookies.

4 cups flour (I’ve found that name brand flour works better than the store brands)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter (use real butter, your cookies will turn out so much better!), softened (you need to soften the butter so the batter will have the right consistency, leave out for a couple of hours or cut sticks into quarters and microwave just briefly for 10 – 12 seconds but leaving out on counter works better)

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar (fresh brown sugar works best)

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla (use real vanilla, it’s worth the extra money)

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts (I always use walnuts)

1  Preheat oven to 375.

2  Whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda.

3  In your mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars until well combined and creamy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

4  Gradually beat in flour mixture, several spoonfuls at a time.  (At this point your cookie batter should be not too dry and not too sticky, add more flour if it is really sticky and you can add just a tiny bit of milk if it is too dry.)

5  By hand, stir in chips and nuts (batter should be thick and somewhat difficult to stir.  When he’s home, this is Bob’s job!).  Using a cookie scoop (a cookie scoop is an essential cookie making tool, if all your cookies are the same size like they will be with a scoop then they will cook better and more evenly), drop dough onto ungreased cookie sheets (I use stones as I’ve found they bake cookies better than metal), 12 to a sheet or if you want to make jumbo cookies, drop dough by level 1/4 cup measures 2″ apart.

6  Bake 12 – 14 minutes or until light golden brown (I take my cookies out of the oven just a few seconds before they look done.  They continue to cook a bit on the stones when they are out of the oven).

7  Cool on sheets 2 minutes then remove to wire racks to cool completely.