The perfect chocolate chip cookie

There's something comforting about warm chocolate chip cookies, especially going into the holiday season. And while I don't have the biggest sweet tooth in the world, I definitely love the smell of them.

In the last year or so, I've tested 13 chocolate chip cookie recipes, but my favourite recipe by far is this one by Martha Stewart (seriously, she's a genius). Crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, these cookies have (IMO) a perfectly balanced texture.

I found the original recipe waaaaaaay too sweet, so I played around with the amount of sugar used.  Below is the recipe with my notes.  Also, I find this recipe actually yields about 26 or so cookies instead of the 20 or so listed.

Another idea: substitute 1/2 the chocolate chips for semi-sweet chocolate chunks.

Happy baking!

(Reminder: make sure your eggs and butter are room temperature)

Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups packed dark-brown sugar (reduced to 0.75 cups)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (reduced to 1/3 cup)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
- Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
- Beat in eggs 1 at a time.
- Add vanilla.
- Reduce speed to low.
- Add flour mixture; beat until combined.
- Mix in chocolate chips.
- Using a 2 1/4-inch ice cream scoop (about 3 tablespoons), drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart.
- Bake until golden around edges but soft in the middle, about 15 minutes.
- Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack, and let cool completely.