chewy chocolate chip cookies

The other night NH and I had Italian food for dinner (I think we could have cooked better ourselves) but our waitress was so distracted that we decided to skip dessert and coffee and leave. We had just seen a movie (The Orphanage, worth it) and were a little tired so we settled up and started the arduous journey home. Once there, I offered to bake some cookies, which are always a satisfying dessert and are so easy to make. NH said he wouldn't ask me to make him cookies, but he wouldn't say no to them either--very cute. We settled on chocolate chip (CCCs) because, in the interest of experiment, I often make all different types and neglect the chocolate chip/peanut butter/oatmeal cookies that are the favorites of NH and my parents.

Of course, in the interest of experiment, I decided not to work from my favorite recipe, but to try something new. This one appealed, not just because chewiness is high on my list of essential CCC qualities, but also because the recipe calls for melted butter, which was excellent because all of the butter I had on hand at the time was frozen.

NH was supposed to relax and watch TV while I baked, but he ended up running two separate errands (first to get milk, then to buy me a There Will Be Blood poster from the semi-sketchy dude who sells the kind of posters usually seen on bus stops on the sidewalk in front of the grocery store). Then he offered to help me stir in the flour (I stupidly worked with a slightly too shallow bowl and the hand mixer would have created a flour explosion). A fair amount of flour landed on the counter anyway, but NH is good in the kitchen, I swear. I am supremely thankful for his help.

The cookies were effortless, as in they're really, really easy to make. The only downside is that they take forever in the oven compared to other cookies, but the deliciousness is worth the time. The recipe yielded fifteen huge cookies, about the size of the ones at say, Starbucks, but ninety times as delicious because the molasses flavor from the brown sugar is spot on and they don't have a disproportionate amount of chocolate to cookie (I may rant on that at another time). NH really loves those cookies with M+Ms in them, and I think I would adapt this recipe to make those for him. They really did stay soft for days.

Thanks to Nicole at Baking Bites, who shares many fabulous recipes for cookies as well as other delicious baked treats.