I’m exhausted, but I promised I would post this recipe this evening for some of my friends.

The weather has been amazing the past couple of days and it’s really lifted my mood up. Boo and I have enjoyed some time in the sun while the weather’s been warm. I’m hoping we’re finally over winter because it’s gone on too damn long and I’m tired of being cooped up in the apartment all the time. I think Boo is, too.

Anyway, I woke up in a great mood this morning and decided it was a good day to make cookies.

And, of course, as soon as I posted the photo to my Facebook, everyone wanted the recipe.

I will preface this by saying this is not a recipe I came up with. I found it a while back, wrote it down on a sticky note, and I keep it on my fridge for those days that I really, really, really need chocolate chip cookies in my life. (Which, let’s face it, is pretty much all the time. I’m not ashamed to admit it, but I only make them occasionally.) It makes a perfectly soft cookie that isn’t overly sweet. When we don’t have any chocolate chips at home, sometimes I’ll make them anyway, without the chips, and they still turn out delicious.

For the cookies, you will need:

• 2 sticks (or 1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 cups
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 12-oz bag (or 2 cups) chocolate chips

First, preheat your oven to 375°.

Cream together your butter and your sugar first. I prefer using a mixer for this, but you can easily mix by hand with a spoon, you just have to work at it a little more. Once everything is creamed well, add in your eggs, vanilla, and milk, and mix well to combine. (Note: if you mix by hand, you most likely won’t need to add the milk. I’ve noticed that when I use the hand mixer, the cookies turn out a little bit dry, so the milk is necessary. When I mix the dough by hand, I don’t need it.) I usually add the salt into the wet mixture at this point as well.

In a separate bowl, mix your flour and baking soda. (And salt, if you didn’t add it into the wet ingredients.) Mix well before adding it into the wet ingredients. I usually mix half of the flour first, and once that’s just about combined, I add the other half of the flour. Ditch the hand mixer for this part. When the flour is almost totally mixed in, add in your chocolate chips. Do not over mix the dough! As soon as you see no more dry spots, you’re ready to begin spooning it out.

It’s up to you on how big you want your cookies, but a tablespoon of dough or so for each cookie is what I usually use. Spoon them out onto a pan, leave at least an inch of space between each cookie, and pop the pan into the oven for 8-10 minutes. The cookies don’t spread too much as they cook.

Once the bottom has begun to brown, and the cookie no longer looks wet, pull your pan out and let the cookies sit on it for at least five minutes before removing them.

Sometimes, I change the recipe up a little bit. You can substitute some of the granulated sugar for brown sugar if you’d like; it changes the texture and the taste of the cookie only slightly, but it’s really up to you on what you like. (I usually use about half and half of each.) I will occasionally put cinnamon in the dough if I’m feeling a little adventurous, but my boyfriend prefers the cookies without. He’s a purist when it comes to a good chocolate chip cookie.

As I said, this isn’t my recipe and I’m not taking credit for it! It just happens to be the one I wrote down and stuck to my refrigerator. It’s one of my absolute favorites and I hope the rest of you enjoy it as well.