Chocolate chip cookies and sunshine!

Happiest of happy Fridays!  It might be February, but today, it officially feels like spring has sprung in Raleigh. The next 10 days show it's going to stay above 50 degrees.  I can really get behind that.  Even in snowy Pittsburgh, 60 degree weather has shown it's mysterious February face. 

What goes best with spring weather and sunshine?  Flip flops and sundresses and...chocolate chip cookies.  Ok, well maybe they don't go well together, but last night just felt like a night to make chocolate chip cookies.  I've experimented with this recipe a hundred times.  I've used shortening, butter, lard, combinations of the two, a hint of crumbled bacon, and more to play with this recipe and make it unique, but it always comes back to the same place-  Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies. 

Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1 cup Butter, softened
1 1/4 cup Dark brown sugar (or brown sugar with 2 tbsp of molasses stirred in)
1/4 cup Granulated sugar
2 Large eggs
2 tsp Vanilla bean paste
2 1/4 cup Flour
2 tsp Baking soda
2 tsp Kosher salt, plus extra for sprinkling
1 11.5 oz bag Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips
Optional- freshly grated lemon or lime zest

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
2.  Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy in stand mixer with paddle attachment.  Add in eggs 1 at a time, making sure to fully incorporate before adding another.  Scrape down sides of bowl with spatula and add in vanilla.  Mix well.
3.  Add in flour, baking soda and salt, mix until just combined.  Add in chocolate chips and mix until just combined.  Place mixer bowl in refrigerator for 1 hour OR roll dough into 3 equal logs, wrap in wax paper and chill in refrigerator overnight.
4.  Using a cookie scooper or tbsp, portion out cookies 1 inch apart on lined cookie sheets.  If you chilled the cookies overnight in wax paper logs, unwrap logs and slice cookies about 3/8 thick and place 1 inch apart on cookie sheets.  Bake for 7-8 minutes in preheated oven.  Cookies should be formed on the outside, but still soft on the inside.
5.  Immediately sprinkle a pinch or two of kosher salt over the cookies when you remove them from the oven. If desired, grate fresh lemon or lime zest and sprinkly lightly over cookies. Leave cookies on sheet and allow to cool on sheet (this will help to cook the inside a little more without it being intense heat.  It leaves you with soft, chewy cookies, instead of dry and crispy). 

Yields- approx 36-42 cookies