The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies!

The real estate market is strong this week. I showed 9 properties and closed on 1. The pipeline is strong. The phone rings with the steady rhythm of a business that has taken six years to build and refuses to slow down.

Sunday dinner at Mama's was the usual controlled chaos. Mama made moussaka and it was, as always, extraordinary. The table held fourteen people. The arguments held more opinions than the chairs held bodies. This is how Greek families communicate: loudly, with food, over each other.

I thought about Baba this week. Not the grief — the grief is always there, a familiar companion now — but the man. The way he stood at the bakery counter with his arms crossed. The way he hummed Greek songs he never knew the words to. The way he loved us in silence, which was the loudest love I have ever known.

I made kourabiedes — butter cookies pressed with almonds, dusted in powdered sugar. They did not last the day. I served it with bread and olive oil — always too much olive oil, because in this family there is no such thing as too much. We ate and the conversation was easy and the evening was warm.

Sophia told me this week that she is proud of me. I was not expecting it. We were in the car, driving to Tarpon Springs for Sunday dinner, and she said Mom, I am proud of you. I said for what. She said for everything. For the bakery. For the houses. For making dinner every night even when you are tired. I gripped the steering wheel and blinked and said thank you, koritsi mou. She said do not cry. I did not cry. Much.

I had already made the kourabiedes by the time Sophia said what she said in the car, and they were gone before dinner was over — that’s always how it goes. But I was still in a baking mood the next morning, still carrying her words with me like something I didn’t want to set down. I needed something to do with my hands, something warm and familiar, and these chocolate chip cookies are exactly that: the kind of recipe you make when you are full of feeling and need somewhere to put it. Baba always said the kitchen was where you went when words were not enough.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 27 min | Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugars. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on medium-high speed for 2–3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add eggs and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract until fully combined.
Combine wet and dry. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix.
Fold in chocolate chips. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, fold in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Scoop the dough. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough (or use a medium cookie scoop) onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart.
Bake. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are golden but the centers still look slightly underdone. They will firm up as they cool.
Cool. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely — if you can wait that long.

Nutrition (per serving)

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies! — For the Days When Someone Says They’re Proud of You