The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever...Really!

If you're looking for a good, I mean really good chocolate chip cookie recipe, then you need to try this one. There is a bakery in New York called Levain's Bakery. http://www.levainbakery.com/ They are known for their giant, colossal, delicious, buttery, chocolate chip cookies. Their recipe is apparently a top secret so this recipe is a copycat version. This recipe made 45 - 2 1/2" cookies when I made it. Making it their way? It will make 12 huge cookies! That tells you how enormous they are! This is a thick cookie, one that's crispy a bit on the outside and chewey on the inside. It's not like the typical "Toll House" cookie that is flat, so if that's what you prefer, you won't care for this one but we love it!
The Very Best Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients
2 sticks of unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups all purpose flour or bread flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup good quality semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup good quality milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions: In a mixing bowl, beat butter and both sugars until creamy. Don't over beat. Add eggs and vanilla and beat just until incorporated.

Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. When thoroughly mixed, add to batter and stir just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Chill dough for 1 hour.

Baking - their way: Divide dough into 12 big 4 oz. sections. (Use a 1/2 cup measuring cup and fill. That's the approx. size of 4 oz.) Form into cookie shape and bake on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for 8 minutes. When timer rings and without opening oven, reduce heat to 325 and bake another 8 minutes or until cookies appear set. 2nd way: You can choose not to bake at 2 different temps and bake totally at 350 degrees for 18-22 min. Yield: 12 ginormous cookies

Baking - my way: Scoop a "heaping teaspoonful" of cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degrees preheated oven on the bottom rack for 9 -10 minutes. (Begin checking on them at the 9 min. mark. You want them set but not really brown - just a little bit golden. That way, they aren't hard and crispy but more chewy.) Yield: 40 - 45 normal sized cookies