DORA'S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

It's amazing how many chocolate chip cookie recipes are out there. Not everyone agrees on what makes a cookie great, but the note on this recipe said, "Crisp edges, chewy middles," and it was rated 5 out of 5 by 1713 allrecipes.com members. Sounded good to me. The recipe title is "Best Chocolate Chip Cookies," and I renamed them because IMHO, they are not the best, although they are very good. Instead of using 2 tsp. hot water as the recipe called for, I used coffee syrup (coffee brandy in which instant coffee is dissolved). I had to eliminate the 1 cup chopped walnuts, because my friend doesn't like nuts, and these cookies were for him. I personally really like nuts in CC cookies and I'm sure they would have made the cookie a little crunchy. With my coffee syrup added, these cookies have a very good flavor, nice texture; and, yes, they are chewy but only very slightly crispy on the edges. The dough is unbelievably delicious with a strong caramel flavor and there really is a chance you might not get these to the oven! Also worth mentioning: I obviously made the cookies too small, because I got 58 cookies using a tablespoonful of dough; 2 tablespoonfuls would yield 29; and Dora says she gets 24. If you like big, puffy cookies, these are not, but they have a good amount of chocolate chips and they will take care of your chocolate craving.

Dora's Chocolate Chip Cookies
Rating: 8 out of 10
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar (I used superfine)
1 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark brown)
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached)
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. hot water (I used coffee syrup)
1/2 tsp. salt (I used sea salt)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (I used 1 cup Old-Fashioned Oats instead)

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream together the butter and sugars till smooth. (I did this by hand with a wire whisk.) Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water (or coffee syrup). Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts (or oatmeal). Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased (or parchment-lined) pans. Bake about 10 minutes or till edges are nicely browned.*

*I think this is where the crispy edges come in. I slightly underbaked the cookies, because that's how I prefer them. They did not brown on the edges. This is personal preference; if you like crisp but well-baked cookies, go for it.