Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Cream together the butter and the sugars. Add the eggs and beat until fully incorporated. Whisk together the dry ingredients and then slowly add to the wet ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips. Use a medium size scoop to place generous 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoon size scoops of dough onto the lined cookie sheet.
Bake 11-12 minutes until just barely browned around the edges. Remove from the oven while still soft, as soon as they are puffy and cracked on top. Let cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet. Transfer to wire cooling racks and let cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Enjoy!
FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: You can scoop the cookie dough into balls and flash freeze them on a tray, then transfer them directly from the freezer to a baking sheet. Add about 1 minute additional cooking time if the dough is frozen. When I don't have time to pre-scoop the dough, I simply place all the dough together into a freezer safe ziploc and press flat. When ready to bake, set on the counter until soft enough to scoop the dough into rounds for baking. I usually let it thaw for about 20-30 minutes.
Notes
The size of the cookie is key to achieving a bakery style cookie with a perfectly chewy center and crispy edges all around. A medium size scoop with approximately 2 tablespoons of cookie dough per cookie works perfectly.
Cold and cubed butter is simply butter that has been sliced into small squares. I've made plenty of recipes with room temperature butter, melted butter, and cold butter. Each of those methods results in a very different cookie. The thickness and the chewiness of this cookie requires cold butter that has been cut into small 1/2" pieces to help it mix easily in with the butter.I've made these cookies both with and without vanilla. I actually prefer them without the traditional vanilla. Feel free to add a teaspoon or so if that makes you happiest.