The following recipe is from Welcome to Junior's cookbook, by Marvin and Walter Rosen, William Morrow and Company, 1999. Junior's, in Brooklyn, NY, is renowned for its 50 years of great service and cooking. They are most famous for their cheesecakes, however, this cookbook is proof that there's a lot more to Junior's!

chocolate chip cookies

"These are so chunky with pecans and chips of rich chocolate that you'll find yourself eating a handful, whether you intended to or not.

The Junior's way - drop the cookie batter by heaping teaspoons for each cookie, not Tablespoons. Cookies bake out 2 to 2 1/2 inches wide and extra chunky."

yield: 10 dozen cookies (This recipe doubles easily)

ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 extra-large eggs
• 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups chocolate chips (2 12-ounce packages)
• 3 cups chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 375° and butter some baking sheets (4 if you have them). Mix both flours, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

Cream the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high for 2 minutes. Then, with the mixer still running, gradually add both of the sugars, then the eggs one at a time. Continue beating the mixture until it is creamy and light yellow. Beat in the vanilla.

With a spoon, stir in the flour mixture, just until it's mixed (do not overmix the batter at this stage, as the protein in the flour might become overdeveloped and cause the cookies to be tough). Stir in the chocolate chips and the pecans.

Drop the batter by heaping teaspoons onto the baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies until golden and firm, 9 to 11 minutes (watch carefully and do not let them get too brown). Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then slide them onto a cooling rack. Let the cookies cool for at least for at least 1 hour before serving in airtight containers.

These cookies also freeze great, for up to 1 month, in zipper-closing plastic freezer bags.

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