PECAN ALMOND CHOCO CHIP COOKIES

I baked these delicious cookies for my friends birthday. They are super yummy and chewy.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 c ups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground sea salt
1 1/2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup almond slivers

DIRECTIONS
Let butter soften. With mixer, blend butter and sugar until just smooth (don't over blend). Add egg and vanilla and mix until liquid is incorporated. Add 1 cup flour, baking soda and ground sea salt and mix until flour is blended. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups flour and mix. *Make sure there are no lumps of white flour, but do not over mix the dough. Add chocolate chips and nuts and mix with a spoon.

[Okay, this is a good place to grab a spoonful of dough and give it a taste. You know you've been dying to since you set the butter out to soften. But I suppose I should also add that eating raw eggs carries a risk of salmonella poisoning, but I think I speak for most of us when I say that is a risk we are willing to take.]

The cookies will be more uniform and chewy if you chill the dough before baking. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap firmly against the dough (this will keep it from drying out in the fridge). But since I know you don't want to wait the 30 minutes for the dough to chill in the fridge, you can stick it in the freezer for about 15 - 20 minutes.

While your waiting, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a cookie scoop*, layout 12 level blobs on the cookie sheet, spread out evenly. Slighly flatten each lump (we're not trying to make pancakes here, just a little press to flatten the rounded center.) Bake for 9 minutes or until edges are slightly golden and centers are no longer shiny. Remove from the oven and leave on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Lift each cookie to a cooling rack and cool completely. (Well, except for that one that your eating right now. Be careful, the chocolate is still hot.)

Store in an airtight container for ultimate chewyness.

* If you don't own a cooke scoop, you really should get one. They are fabulous. But since I still want you to have cookies... Hand roll dough balls, slightly smaller than a golf ball and lay out on the baking sheet. Press balls until the rounded domes are flat (they should still be think lumps.)

Yield will vary depending on your scoop. I usually get 2 dozen 2 1/2 " cookies.

ENJOY!!