The best chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe

I love chocolate chip cookies. Who doesn't? After trying so many recipes over the years, I came up with this one and it's definitely my favorite! They're soft, chewy, and chocolatey. What's not to love?

 The ingredients.

Cream the butter, shortening, and sugars. 

Then add the eggs and vanilla.

 Add your flour and baking soda.

Mix together.

 The best part...the chocolate!

Stir all those right in! 

Voilà!

3/4 cup shortening

3/4 cup butter (softened)

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 brown sugar

3 eggs

2 1/2 tsp. vanilla

3 3/4 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. salt*

1-2 cups of chocolate chips

*I always bake with salted butter, because that's just what we always have, so I omit the salt. If you are baking with unsalted butter, add the salt.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Cream together shortening, butter, and sugars.

3. Mix in eggs and vanilla and mix.

4. Add flour, baking soda, and salt (if using.) and mix well. 

Consistency is something I always watch for when I make cookies. If there's too much moisture in the dough, the cookies will melt and turn out flat and crispy. And if there isn't enough moisture in the dough, the cookies will be dry and crumble. Sometimes I have to add a little water (about a tablespoon) to the dough (I live in a really dry climate.) The dough needs to be able to pull away from the sides and hold together when mixing and not be sticky. 

5. Add chocolate chips and stir together. I usually use a mix of semi sweet and milk chocolate. I use about 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips. I know some people like really chocolatey, and others don't like too many chocolate chips. Use what you prefer.

6. Drop rounded balls of dough onto the cookie sheets and bake for 9-12 minutes. You want to pull them out of the oven when they are just done because they will finish baking on the sheet. 

This recipe will make about 5 dozen if using a medium sized cookie scoop.

Enjoy!