Perfect chocolate chip cookies recipe - minor variations on the Nestle Tollhouse recipe

Chocolate chip cookies are one of the world's all-time greatest creations, whether you like to enjoy them hot out of the oven, cooled with a cup of milk, or as pre-baked chocolate chip cookie dough, and in the chocolate chip cookie recipe world, few can hope to rival the fame and popularity of the Nestle's Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies recipe.  The classic recipe makes a great cookie, and it is available everywhere from the Tollhouse page on Verybestbaking.com (the official site by Nestle) to the Nestle's Tollhouse chocolate chips bags available at almost every grocery store in the United States if not the Western World.

This American classic cookie was, in fact, invented in the United States in the 1930's at the Tollhouse Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, by Ruth Wakefield, apparently by accident, or rather by serendipity since it rapidly became one of the most famous cookie recipes in the world.  She sold the recipe to Nestle, whose semi-sweet chips she used to "accidentally" create the cookie, in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate chips, which any chocolate-lover will attest is a pretty good exchange.

Though it's so widely available, here is the classic recipe according to Ruth Wakefield as it appears on the Nestle's Tollhouse Semi-sweet chocolate morsels bags.  Following the recipe are a few proven tips that take this recipe from gold to platinum!

Ingredients (classic recipe):

1. 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (recommended: King Arthur's unbleached, unbromated)
2. 1 teaspoon baking soda
3. 1 teaspoon salt
4. 1 cup (two sticks) butter, softened
5. 3/4 cup granulated sugar
6. 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
7. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (recommended: premium extracts of real vanilla - no imitations)
8. 2 large eggs
9. 2 cups (1 12 oz. package) Nestle's Tollhouse chocolate morsels
10. 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions (classic recipe):

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and mix.  Beat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy.
3. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter-eggs-and-sugar mixture and mix thoroughly.
5. Add the chocolate chips (and nuts) and mix well.
6. Drop rounded tablespoons of the cookie dough onto an ungreased baking sheet, leaving a few inches between the drops
7. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes and let cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Tips to take gold to platinum ("Tammy's variations"):

1. Preheat the oven and bake the cookies at 350 F instead of 375 F.  This produces a softer cookie.  The baking time should still only be 9 to 11 minutes, tending toward 9 (see tip #3 below).
2. Use one stick of butter and a quarter cup of vegetable shortening (it's bad for you, but these are cookies!) in place of two cups of butter.  This changes the texture of the cookies considerably, making them surprisingly better.
3. Bake the cookies for only 8-9 minutes instead, leaving them just a bit under-done on purpose, which creates a softer cookie.  It's wise to test these with the first batch until you get the hang of it.  You want them to come out of the oven just as they finish baking (think along the lines of cooking a steak to medium-rare... you don't want to overdo it, but you don't want it uncooked either).

Other suggestions and variations:

1. Use premium chocolate chips instead of Nestle's.  For an easy, quite good choice, use the Ghirardelli chips available in many grocery stores (semi-sweet 60% cocoa).  For even higher-end chocolates, you may have to shop around a bit (or break up some top-notch chocolate bars).  Schokinag chocolatier has stunningly good (but expensive) chocolate chips available on their website (see the link).
2. If you have them, use about a quarter of a cup of cocoa nibs (available at Earth Fare and similar shops) instead of (or in addition to) nuts.  They are crunchy and have a slightly bitter, raw chocolate flavor that adds something interesting.

Buy your ingredients locally: Ghirardelli (or Nestle's Tollhouse) semisweet chips are available almost everywhere now: the Knoxville area Kroger stores, for one, as well as the Knoxville Earth Fare and The Fresh Market locations.  Occasionally at the Earth Fare stores, even higher-grade chocolate chips are available, so keep an eye open for that extra-special touch.  Furthermore, add an extra special something to this recipe by choosing Amish roll butter, available in two-pound rolls in Maryville at the Horn of Plenty Marketplace on West Broadway.

For more great recipes and cooking ideas, follow the Knoxville Gourmet Food Examiner by subcribing at the top of the page. You can also read more on his personal cooking blog: The Untrained Gourmet.