Kitchen-sink chocolate chip cookies...

Finding a great chocolate chip cookie recipe is like finding buried treasure. And I am happy to say I have struck gold with Elinor Klivans’ Kitchen-Sink Chocolate Chip Cookies. 

One of the things I love about this recipe is that it’s a great way to use up extra baking chips you might have on hand. As the recipe says, “there is just enough dough to hold the heaps, and I mean heaps, of chocolate chips, pecans, walnuts and almonds together.” 

Yum. It’s impossible not to feel you are being incredibly indulgent eating these babies because there is so much good stuff in them. Here’s the recipe from the book (FYI ~ I swap out types of chips and sometimes add more chips in place of some of the nuts, etc. The recipe is pretty forgiving.):

Kitchen-Sink Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mixing time ~ 10 minutes
Baking ~ 350 degrees for about 14 minutes per batch

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
6 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups (18 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup (4 ounces) pecan halves
1 cup (4 ounces) walnut halves or large pieces
1 cup (4 ounces) blanched whole almonds, toasted and chopped roughly in half

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two or three baking sheets with parchment paper.
Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until blended, about 1 minute. The mixture may look slightly curdled. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until it is incorporated. Mix in the chocolate chips, pecans, walnuts and almonds until evenly distributed.
Use a tablespoon to drop well-rounded tablespoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies 2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the edges are slightly browned and the centers are just slightly colored, about 14 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

CHOICES: You can add 1 cup of raisins, dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots to the dough with the chips and nuts. White, bittersweet or milk chocolate chips, or a combination, can be substituted for the semisweet chips.

And do yourself a favor and pick up this wonderful cookbook.

I am linking to:
Tasty Tuesday at The Comforts of Home

Photos by The Art of Living Beautifully