Welcome to StartCooking.com. I'm Kathy Maister.

Today, we're making chocolate chip cookies.

An ingredient and equipment list is at the end of this video.

Start by measuring the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl.

You'll need one and one eighth cups of flour, one teaspoon of baking soda, and one half

teaspoon of salt. Gently whisk these ingredients together and set this bowl aside for just a moment.

Crack one egg into a small bowl and check that there are no shells. Add one teaspoon of vanilla

and with a fork, give it a quick mix. We'll get back to this in just a few seconds.

Now, cut four ounces of

room-temperature unsalted butter into chunks and put it into a large bowl. Add six

tablespoons of light brown sugar and six tablespoons of white sugar and beat everything together until

creamy. You can use a wooden spoon, but an electric hand mixer works much better.

Add the egg and vanilla combo and mix everything together really well.

Now, gradually add in the flour mixture.

Stir in six ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips and if you like, one-half cup of chopped walnuts.

Evenly spread the cookie dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and wrap it up.

You absolutely must chill the dough in the refrigerator until it's firm before you use it.

That'll take at least an hour.

Score the cookie dough into 12 even cubes.

Break off each cube and roll it into a ball.

Then place it on a 14 by 15 inch cookie sheet.

They really spread out as they cook.

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