Cookies! Om Nom Nom Nom

Instead of making the standard New Year's resolutions this year, Paul and I have decided to give up a different vice each month.  January's choice felt obvious to both of us after all of the overindulgence of the holiday season: no alcohol.  I have toyed with this idea every January for the past few years and I usually make it for about two weeks before having a drink.  I am happy to report that we have stuck with it this year (at least for the 22 days that have passed thus far).  I thought it was going to be really difficult, but I have to say that it has been fairly easy.

But there has been one unanticipated side effect of not drinking.  Against all odds, I am finding myself absolutely ravenous for sweets.  For years I have been the type of person who orders a cheese plate for dessert and skips the french toast at breakfast for the savory options.  But day after day I have found myself craving chocolaty treats.  And when I think of chocolaty comfort foods, the first thing that comes to mind is chocolate chip cookies.  Chocolate chip cookies were the first recipe I learned how to make on my own as a child, so they hold a special place in my heart.  These days, I make them taste a little more "grown up" by adding dark chocolate, sea salt, and walnuts to the batter instead of the ingredients I used a child, but the nostalgia remains just the same.  They sure do satisfy the cookie monster that I have become lately and I am sure that the cookie monsters in your neck of the woods will enjoy these too.  

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
3/8 cup granulated sugar
3/8 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Mix dry ingredients (flour, sea salt, and baking soda) in a small mixing bowl:

In a large mixing bowl, melt butter in the microwave for about 1 minute on high:

Add granulated sugar, light brown sugar, and vanilla extract and stir to mix the ingredients together:

Add the egg and stir to incorporate:

Add the dry ingredients in two separate additions and mix well to incorporate after each addition:

Once you have added all of the flour, the batter should look something like this:

Add the chocolate chips and nuts and mix to incorporate:

Take two spoons and drop the dough by rounded spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet lined with a silicone baking mat (if you don't have a silicone mat, you can line the cookie sheet with parchment paper):

Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, or until the edges start to brown.  Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet for about a minute before transferring them to a wire baking rack to cool completely: