"The Chewy" (Chocolate Chip Cookies)

From Alton Brown.

Prep: 15 minutes + chilling / Cook: 10-15 minutes
Yield: about 2 dozen cookies

These cookies are thick, dense, and chewy with lots of chocolate chips.

8 oz. unsalted butter
12 oz. bread flour (~2 1/4 cups)
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 oz. granulated sugar (~1/4 cup)
8 oz. light brown sugar (~1 1/4 cups)
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 Tbs. whole milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
12 oz. chocolate chips (~2 cups)

Melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan over low heat, then set aside to cool slightly.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda onto a paper plate.

Pour the butter into your stand mixer's work bowl.  Add the sugars and beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the whole egg, egg yolk, milk, and vanilla extract in a measuring cup.  Reduce the mixer speed and slowly add the egg mixture.  Mix until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.

Using the paper plate as a slide, gradually integrate the dry team, stopping a couple times to scrape down the side of the bowl.  Once the flour is worked in, drop the speed to "stir" and add the chocolate chips.  Chill the dough for 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 375 F and place racks in the top third and bottom third of the oven.

Scoop the dough into 1 1/2-ounce portions onto parchment paper-lined half sheet pans, 6 cookies per sheet.  Bake two sheets at a time for 10-15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through.

Remove from the oven, slide the parchment with the cookies onto a cooling rack, and wait at least 5 minutes before devouring.

Notes:
- AB says, "Great bakers weigh their ingredients."  Apparently I'm not a great baker--I looked up his recipe on the Food Network website in addition to reading it out of my Good Eats cookbook and found volumetric measurements.  Those are included in parentheses.  To be honest, I've had better results using the volumetric measurements than when I weigh them.
- I tend to use use semisweet chips and dark brown sugar because I like them better.
- What to do with the unused egg white?  Freeze it in a storage container for use in a recipe that uses more whites than eggs, such as the Hot Chocolate Souffle.
- To tell you the truth, I'm not too particular about using a 2-quart saucepan or sifting onto a paper plate.  I "sift" my ingredients into a bowl by measuring them into a fine mesh strainer and tapping it with my hand.  It gets the job done, though the kosher salt stays behind and just gets dumped in.
- I sort of guess on the size of the cookie scoops.  I've figured out that it's bigger than a cookie scoop and smaller than an ice cream scoop.  (I have the Oneida ones with the hook arm inside.)
- Parchment paper is one of the most wonderful things in the world.  I've always loved it.
- The original recipe says to cook for 15 minutes, but I've found that the cookies get overdone.  Rotate at 5 or 6 minutes (also switching which pan is on the top rack) and keep an eye on them starting at 10 minutes.  Take the cookies out when the edges are just golden.