Has anyone ever seen the episode of Friends where Phoebe wants to give Monica her grandmother’s recipe for “the best chocolate chip cookies” as an engagement present?  They spend the entire episode trying to work out what the recipe actually was, the original having been lost in a fire.  In the end, the recipe ends up being the Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip cookie recipe – you know, the one that you can find on the back of the chocolate chip bag.  Phoebe’s grandmother had been pretending it was her very own, special recipe for all those years.

I don’t want to brag, but I’ve been told a few times that I make the best chocolate chip cookies ever.  (Did you just roll your eyes and contemplate not reading any further?!)  It’s always possible the people who have said this to me were trying to get me to help them with something at the time, but I choose to believe the comments came from the heart and were true.

I’m going to let you all in on a little secret: the recipe I use to make my chocolate chip cookies is the same recipe Phoebe’s grandmother passed off as her own – the Nestle Tollhouse recipe on the back of the bag of chocolate chips!  My only adjustment is putting parchment paper on the cookie sheets, and I’m not sure I’m convinced this makes a huge difference in the taste of the cookies… I use the parchment paper because it makes it easier to clean the cookie sheets.

Day 9 in my 12 Days of Christmas Cookies series is (drum roll please): Chocolate Chip Cookies.  If you’d like to see the previous 8 days in my 12 Days of Christmas Cookies series, please click here.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (1 12-oz package) Nestle chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375° F.  Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Here is the photo log of the dough being made – it’s very straightforward, and I had no hiccups to share with you all, thankfully.

I got exactly 36 cookies out of this recipe, but I did donate one to Alex and E because they were so good about staying out of my way in the kitchen while I was baking.

© 2009, The Table Has Shoes (and Other Ambiguities). All rights reserved.

Related posts:

1. 12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 6: Chocolate Hazelnut Sandwiches
2. 12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 4: Peanut Butter Cookies
3. 12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day Two: Chocolate Nut Bark
4. 12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Day 5: Chocolate Truffles
5. 12 Days of Christmas Cookies: Day One – Peppermint Bark