The best chocolate chip cookies!!

I have tried many a chocolate chip recipe and this is by far my favorite. Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Not too cake like, and not too gooey. Perfect!

Ingredients:

* 1 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons hot water
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
* 1 cup chopped walnuts

1) Preheat Oven to 350 degrees (personally, I do 325 because I like them a little chewier)

2)Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt.



3)Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.





4) Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.



Amy's Tips:
- Chill dough for 2 hours or so before baking. It makes the cookies more even!
- Use parchment paper, they just bake better!
- If you like your cookies a bit flatter like me, make the dough balls smaller and flatten them out a bit on the tray. They don't expand too much.
- If you like your cookies more cake like, use 1 egg instead of 2.
- throw in pecans, macadamias, white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, cranberries - whatever! its a great basic recipe, and the imagination can go wild!