Chunky Chocolate Chip & Walnut Cookies

These chocolate chip cookies from the Williams-Sonoma Cookies Cookbook are simply sensational. Delicious on their own without walnuts, they become chunkier and more robust with the addition of 1/2 cup of coarsely chopped nuts, however pecans or macadamia nuts would work equally well. Either way, the buttery smell of these cookies as they come out of the oven are pretty hard to resist.

Williams-Sonoma Cookies Cookbook

Chocolate Chip & Walnut Cookies

Makes 4 dozen

Recipe courtesy of Williams Sonoma 

1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
1⁄2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet plain chocolate chips
1 cup toasted walnuts, then coarsely chopped

Pre heat oven to 350°F. Have ready 2 ungreased baking sheets. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt onto a sheet of wax paper, set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, cream the butter until fluffy and pale yellow. Add the granulated and brown sugars and continue beating until mixture is not too gritty when rubbed between your thumb and finger. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on low speed until blended, occasionally stopping the mixer and scraping the sides with a rubber spatula.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low speed just until blended. Add the chocolate chip cookies and walnuts, and stir in with a spoon just until blended.

Using a rounded tablespoon to measure, drop dough onto the baking sheets spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies until golden brown around the edges, about 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool briefly in the pans on wire racks before transferring them to the wire racks to cool completely.