Recipe: Maida Heatter's Big Sur Cookies (6-inch chocolate chip cookies)

BIG SUR COOKIES

1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 oz (1 1/2 sticks or 3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon juice
2/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup quick cooking rolled oats, uncooked (not instant)
6 oz. walnuts, cut or broken into medium sized pieces (1 1/2 cups)
1 (6 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate morsels (1 cup)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut aluminum foil to fit cookie sheets.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon; set aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add the vanilla and lemon juice and then both of the sugars and beat to mix. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

On low speed, add the sifted dry ingredients and then the rolled oats, scraping the bowl as necessary with a rubber spatula and beating only until mixed.

Remove from the mixer and stir in the nuts and morsels.

Now work next to the sink or have a large bowl of water handy so you can wet your hands while shaping the cookies. Spread out a piece of wax paper or foil. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure the amount of dough for each cookie, form 12-15 mounds of the dough and place them any which way on the foil or wax paper.

Wet your hands with cold water, shake off the water but don't dry your hands , pick up a mound of dough, roll it into a ball, flatten it to about 1/2 inch thickness, and place it on the foil. Do not place more than 4 cookies on a 12 x 15 1/2 inch piece of foil or cookie sheet. These spread to gigantic proportions.

Bake two sheets at a time for 16 to 18 minutes, reversing the sheets top to bottom and front to back as necessary to ensure even browning. Bake until the cookies are well colored; they must not be too pale. Watch these carefully; they might become too dark before you know it.

Source: Maida Heater's Brand-New Book of Great Cookies by Maida Heatter