cookie towers make the world a better place

#yeahistagemyfoodphotos

lately i've found myself face to face with chocolate chip cookies more frequently than i've ever noticed before. the other day i ate a couple of cc cookies that were clearly of the break-and-bake or squeeze-from-plastic-sleeve variety, which i am not fond of. not that they aren't delicious, but i just can't appreciate it when people bring that sort of thing to a potluck. this then got me thinking about the last time i baked cc cookies and i couldn't recall baking cc cookies that weren't the Tollhouse recipe right on the back of their semi-sweet chocolate chips, years ago. well that's a half lie. i did make the cookie dough for the bottom layer of slutty brownies, but that doesn't quite count. anyhow, this got me wanting to bake some cookies. and what better day to bake cookies than a day in which teeth cannot be saved from a journey into rottenness, Halloween! slightly crisp, with a chewy center and loaded with chocolate and walnuts. waaay better than any snickers bar i got while trick-or-treating as a kid. now, chop up that snickers bar and throw it into a cookie and then we'll talk...

chocolate chip walnut cookies

ingredients:

- 2 1/4 c all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temp.
- 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 1 c packed light brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 c semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 c chopped walnuts

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. in a small bowl combine flour and baking soda. set aside.
3. in a large bowl cream butter and sugars
4. add salt, vanilla and eggs to creamed ingredients and mix in
5. add flour mixture and mix until just combined
6. stir in chocolate chips and walnuts
7. roll cookie dough into 1" balls and put on baking sheets (separated by 2" between balls)
8. bake until cookies are golden around edges but soft in the center (approx 8-10 mins)
9. remove cookies from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes
10. transfer cookies to wire rack to allow cool completely

...OR just shove them in your face while they're still warm because fresh baked cookies right from the oven are theeeee best!!