American Kitchen Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Celticevergreen's Note:

The chocolate chip cookie was accidentally developed by Ruth Graves Wakefield in 1930. She owned the Toll House Inn, in Whitman, Massachusetts, a very popular restaurant that featured home cooking in the 1930s. Whether you believe the marketing surrounding the invention of the chocolate chip cookie as one where you believe Mrs. Wakefield substituted broken pieces of semi-sweet chocolate from Nestlé thinking that they would melt and mix into the batter or where you believe the vibrations from a large Hobart electric mixer dislodged bars of Nestlé's chocolate stored on the shelf above the mixer so they fell into the cookie dough it was mixing, then broke them up and mixed the pieces into it. Either way, an accident of tasty proportions created the all time favorite American cookie.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 5 dozen c ...

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter or 1 cup margarine, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (12 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 (12 ounce) package milk chocolate chips
• 1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut, shredded (optional)
• 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Combine the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer set on high until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in eggs one at a time then stir in the vanilla.
5. Gradually add the flour mixture, beating well after each addition.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips, the walnuts and coconut, if using.
7. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Flatten the dough slightly with the back of a fork.
8. Bake the cookies until golden, about 15 minutes.
9. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes then transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
10. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week or store in a freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw at room temperature.