These thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies are delicious served warm from the oven or cooled. You can substitute white, milk chocolate, or peanut butter chips for the semi- or bittersweet chips called for in the recipe. In addition to chips, you can flavor the dough with one cup of nuts, raisins, or shredded coconut. If you do not not have pastry flour, you may substitute for all-purpose flour; for each 1 cup pastry flour substitute 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour. You may freeze the scooped cookie dough for up to a month.| Video

INGREDIENTS 

1 pound unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
1 cup dark 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 
1 pound best-quality semisweet and 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.

2. Sift the dry ingredients. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape the side of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract.

3. Reduce speed to low and add half of the dry ingredients, mix until combined. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and the chocolate and mix until well combined.

4. Using a 4-ounce scoop for larger cookies or a 1-ounce scoop for smaller cookies, scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until lightly browned, but still soft, about 20 minutes for larger cookies and about 15 minutes for smaller cookies. Cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes twenty-six 5-inch cookies or 8 1/2 dozen 1 1/4-inch cookies.