Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Stand mixer or hand mixer with paddle attachment
• •Rimmed baking sheets
• •Parchment paper
• •2-tablespoon cookie scoop
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast the walnuts

   Spread walnut halves in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in a 350°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through. You're looking for a golden color and a fragrance that fills your kitchen. The nuts will darken slightly as they cool. Let them cool completely before chopping roughly into irregular pieces. Some should be large enough to bite into, others smaller to distribute throughout the dough.

   Watch carefully after the 7-minute mark. Walnuts go from perfectly toasted to burnt in about 90 seconds. Your nose knows before your eyes do.
2. 2

   Combine dry ingredients

   Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. This takes thirty seconds and ensures even distribution of the leavening and salt throughout your cookies. Set aside.

3. 3

   Cream butter and sugars

   In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter with both sugars on medium speed for a full five minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides twice during this time. The mixture should become noticeably lighter in color and fluffy in texture. This isn't optional. You're incorporating air that will give your cookies lift and structure.

   Properly softened butter yields to gentle pressure but holds its shape. If your finger sinks in easily, the butter is too soft. Too cold and it won't cream properly.
4. 4

   Add eggs and vanilla

   Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until fully incorporated. The mixture may look slightly curdled after the first egg. This is normal. Add the vanilla extract with the second egg and beat until the batter is smooth and homogeneous, about 30 seconds more.

5. 5

   Incorporate dry ingredients

   Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the flour mixture in three additions, mixing just until the flour disappears each time. The moment you can no longer see streaks of white, stop. Overmixing develops gluten and produces tough cookies. Your dough should look thick and slightly sticky.

6. 6

   Fold in chocolate and walnuts

   Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the chocolate chips and toasted walnuts by hand. Work from the bottom of the bowl upward, turning the dough to distribute the additions evenly. You want chocolate and nuts in every bite.

7. 7

   Chill the dough

   Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap pressed directly against the surface of the dough. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 72 hours. Cold dough spreads more slowly in the oven, resulting in thicker cookies with better texture. If you've chilled longer than 2 hours, let the dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before scooping.

   The 72-hour rest isn't just about convenience. Extended chilling allows the flour to fully hydrate and the sugars to dissolve into the butter, producing cookies with deeper flavor and more complex texture.
8. 8

   Portion the cookies

   Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a cookie scoop or two spoons, portion dough into rounds about 2 tablespoons each. Space them 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets. Don't crowd them. These cookies spread.

9. 9

   Bake to golden perfection

   Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies are done when the edges are golden brown and set but the centers still look slightly underdone and puffy. They'll continue cooking on the hot pan. The surface should have a few cracks and the chocolate chips will be glossy but not completely melted.

   Every oven runs differently. Start checking at 9 minutes. You're looking for golden edges with pale, soft centers. They'll firm up as they cool.
10. 10

    Cool and serve

    Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. This allows them to set without becoming hard. Transfer to a wire cooling rack using a thin spatula. The cookies are best eaten within a few hours of baking, while the edges retain their crispness and the centers stay chewy. But let's be honest: they rarely last that long.

Chef Tips

• •Buy walnut halves rather than pieces. Pre-chopped walnuts are often stale or rancid from oxidation. Whole halves stay fresher longer and let you control the size of the pieces in your cookies.
• •Quality chocolate matters. Nestlé invented the chocolate chip specifically for this cookie, but better options exist today. Guittard, Ghirardelli, or any chocolate you'd eat by itself will improve your cookies.
• •For bakery-style cookies with more contrast between crispy edges and gooey centers, increase individual portions to 3 tablespoons and bake at 350°F for 14 to 16 minutes.
• •Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Place a slice of bread in the container to keep them soft. The bread will go stale; the cookies won't.
• •A pinch of flaky sea salt pressed onto each cookie before baking transforms a good cookie into something memorable. The salt amplifies both the chocolate and the toasted walnut flavors.

Advance Preparation

• •Dough can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours before baking. Flavor improves with time.
• •Portioned dough balls freeze beautifully. Arrange on a sheet pan, freeze solid, then transfer to a freezer bag. Bake directly from frozen, adding 2 to 3 minutes to the bake time. Keeps for 3 months.
• •Baked cookies freeze well for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature or warm briefly in a 300°F oven to refresh.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 40g)