Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dan thinks I'm crazy because, sometimes, I get overwhelmed by an intense desire to bake cookies at 10:30pm on a Sunday. "You didn't feel like cooking dinner just a few hours ago," he says in puzzlement, "So why the hell are you suddenly in the mood to bake cookies? We're going to bed in an hour." He just doesn't understand that  the inspiration to bake strikes at random, and it strikes without mercy. It must be obeyed. 

Tonight, I was inspired by an email from my friend Emily, telling me that she had had a very productive day in the kitchen -- she baked bread and chocolate chip scones. I, on the other hand, had been pretty lazy all day. Dan and I slept in, went out for brunch, and then when dinner rolled around I chose to order Chinese rather than make something myself. It was one of those "there's a ton of stuff in my fridge, but I have no idea what to do with it, and I don't have the brain power to figure it out" kind of days. But, as soon as I saw the words "chocolate chip" in Emily's email, I knew I had to haul my butt into the kitchen and whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Because, (1) I can't remember the last time I made chocolate chip cookies, (2) I felt guilty about being so lazy all day, (3) baking would give me a break from the nerdy RPG that had already consumed all of my time/attention this weekend, and (4) I love chocolate chip cookies.

Is there anything more seductive than the smell of cookies baking in the oven? No, there is not. Someone should bottle that scent and sell it for boatloads of money. Wait, it's already been done? And it's for women? Sign me up! Just kidding, I don't want random people sniffing at or around me. I get plenty of that already  riding the Metro to and from work. Ugh. There are way too many people in DC.

Anyway.

I didn't have my own stand-by chocolate chip cookie recipe, so I borrowed one from The Smitten Kitchen. Her recipe is for crispy chewy chocolate chip cookies, but my cookies turned out to be more chewy than crispy -- I even left them in the oven longer than the recipe said to in an effort to crisp them up a little, but to no avail. Not sure what happened. Fortunately, I prefer my cookies to be soft and gooey, so it was no problem for me. Mmm, chocolate...

One year ago: Caramel Cookie Sandwiches with Ganache Filling