chocolate chip cookies

five cookies, originally uploaded by doesinheadlights.

Here's a shot of the chocolate chip cookies I made for work tomorrow (I am in a training session and thought they would be a nice treat). I should, but I don't, have a special chocolate chip recipe that I use all the time. Instead, I use whatever one is on hand at the time--one pulled from a cookbook, a blog or the back of a bag of chocolate chips. I do follow a few rules though, regardless of the recipe:

1. Always use good chocolate.
2. Never bake chocolate chip cookies in an oven hotter than 350.
3. Room temperature butter, no exceptions.
4. Salted butter and/or extra salt in the recipe.
5. Beat the butter and sugar senseless--that's the true meaning of "creaming" them.
6. Always consider doubling the vanilla.

These cookies (made from the JOC recipe, if you're curious, with the above modifications) came out with crisp exteriors and chewy exteriors. If I drank much milk, I'd be tempted to break out a glass.