Chocolate Chip Cookies

Saturday brought a three-person birthday celebration, as well as a farewell dinner for my sister-in-law J, as she is moving to Shreveport, LA to be with C, her one and only. The drive is a hefty 10 hours a day over two days through heart attack-inducing roadways, and I do not envy them at all! I decided to bake J and C a batch of good ol' chocolate chip cookies to help make the trip a little more enjoyable. The recipe came to me in a Martha Stewart Cookie of the Day e-mail, and I just HAD to try it because it is a Jacques Torres (my TV husband) recipe.

I used the smaller ice cream scoop for the cookies, and was able to make exactly 61 cookies. 61 of the best looking and tasting chocolate chip cookies I've made so far!

The cookies are substantial, chewy, and taste wonderful. I think this recipe will definitely surface again for future care packages!

Jacques Torres's Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies (from the Martha Stewart website, click on link to see a video)

1 pound unsalted butter

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar

4 large eggs

3 cups plus 2 tablespoons pastry flour

3 cups bread flour

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 pounds Jacques Torres House (60 percent cocoa) Chocolate or other best-quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped