Locked and Loaded Chocolate Chip Cookies

Like everyone else out there, I've been on the hunt for "The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie" since birth (or thereabouts). One cookie will have a trait I love, but lack something in a different department, and another cookie will have that very thing but lack some other crucial trait. What's a girl to do?

Frankenstein her own recipe, of course.

Naturally, there is no one universal "perfect cookie". Maybe you like yours thin and crisp, while your best friend likes hers fat and chewy. I like mine loaded with chocolate chips, while others are more conservative with the chips.

These cookies lean more toward the soft, chewy side, and certainly aren't shy with the chocolate. I also add what I consider to be the game-stopper: cinnamon. Just enough to give it a spicy mystery, but not so much that it screams "Hey, there's cinnamon here!". Because cookies can do that.


The Scone Gunman's Locked and Loaded Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Makes 4 dozen)

1 c butter (softened)
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
2 eggs (at room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 c flour (sifted)
1 tsp baking soda
1 heaping tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 c (about 1 bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 (f). Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes with a hand mixer). Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla. Sift in flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix until just incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips.

Drop by the tablespoonful onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake 8-10 minutes, until the edges are just golden brown. Remove from the oven and let sit on the sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool.