{The Best} Chocolate Chip Cookies

I just wanted to take a moment to share with all of you the best chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever try. 

Ever. 

These Levain Bakery inspired cookies from My Baking Addiction are crispy on the edges, soft and gooey in the middle, and did I mention they're also huge?!

There is just something so satisfying about sinking your teeth into a huge chewy cookie.

It's easy for me to get caught up in making something new, exciting and impressive, but sometimes there's nothing better than a classic chocolate chip cookie.

Keep reading for the recipe.

The recipe calls for 4 ounce dough balls, but I eye-balled it and made balls a little smaller than a tennis ball. Mine turned out a little smaller than the original recipe, yielding 16 cookies instead of 10 (but they were still VERY big cookies!). You can bake about 6 at a time on a normal-sized baking sheet.

A tip for baking: bake on a silicone mat or parchment paper for easy clean up.

Take the cookies out of the oven when they are only slightly brown on top - they will continue baking when you take them out of the oven. And leaving them slightly underbaked insures that the inside will be nice and gooey even after they are cool.

Serve these up straight out of the oven with a glass of milk and your family will wonder why you didn't go into the baking business. As one of my coworkers said after seeing these, "why didn't you go into fair baking? We all know that's where the money's at." (As an unpaid intern, truer words have never been said).

A handy idea: save some of the cookie dough in the fridge as your own homemade version of ready to bake cookies. You'll have a delicious dessert whenever you want in an only a few minutes; great for unexpected guests or if you have a late-night craving!

Seriously, you've gotta try these. And you may have to break up with your old chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Recipe: {The Best} Chocolate Chip Cookies via My Baking Addiction

Ingredients

2 sticks cold and cubed unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon table or fine sea salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle (or hand mixer) cream together butter and sugars until well blended and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mix in vanilla and beat until well incorporated.
3. Add flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips/chunks and nuts.
4. Transfer dough to clean work surface (or stick your hands in the bowl like I did!) and gently mix dough by hand to ensure even distribution of ingredients.
5. Weigh out the dough into 4 ounce portions and gently roll into a ball. (I estimated a ball a little under the size of a tennis ball, and got 16 cookies).
6. Place each on sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake in the preheated oven 15-20 minutes depending on how gooey and rawish you like the interior, until very lightly browned, taking care not to overbake.
7. Let cool on rack and store what you don't immediately eat in an airtight container.