Recipe: Mrs. D's Chocolate Chip Cookies

MRS. D'S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES


4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter, cut into 1-ounce pieces
2 cups tightly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
24 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.*

In a sifter combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Sift onto a large piece of wax paper and set aside until needed.

Place the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Beat on medium for 4 minutes until soft. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the eggs, dark rum, and vanilla extract and beat on medium for 1 minute until combined. Scrape down the bowl once again. Operate the mixer on low while gradually adding the sifted dry ingredients until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the chocolate chips and mix on low for 30 seconds. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to finish mixing the dough until thoroughly combined.

Using 2 heaping tablespoons of dough (just shy of 3 ounces) for each cookie, portion 6 cookies, evenly spaced, onto each of 4 nonstick baking sheets.

Place the baking sheets on the top and center racks of the preheated oven and bake for 28 to 30 minutes until dry to the touch, rotating the sheets from top to center halfway through the baking time (at that time also turn each sheet 180 degrees). Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets for 30 minutes.

Store the cookies in a tightly sealed plastic container until ready to serve. Mrs. D's Chocolate Chip Cookies will keep forever, or close to it, when held at room temperature in a tightly sealed plastic container. For long-term storage, up to several weeks, the cookies may be frozen in a tightly sealed plastic container to prevent dehydration and to protect them from freezer odors.

*Mrs. D and her family love crisp cookies. If your preference is for a soft-baked cookie, then bake them for only 20 minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

ABOUT THE RECIPE:
"The question I inevitably hear is, "What's your favorite recipe in the book?" With one of my mother's recipes in this book, that question is easily and honestly answered: of course, Mrs. D's Chocolate Chip Cookies. This is my favorite recipe and not because I would sound ungrateful otherwise. As a toddler, I teethed on this cookie (along with her fudge). As time passed, it greeted me after school and brought my family together around the kitchen table. When I was in the armed services, this cookie brought me joy in Vietnam and put a smile on the faces of my U.S. Marine buddies desperate for a taste of home. With a cookie like this from Mom, I don't know why anyone needs apple pie."

Makes: 2 dozen (4-inch) cookies
Source: Death by Chocolate Cookies by Marcel Desaulniers