Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts

Chocolate chip cookies with walnuts are for those who love chewy, dense cookies with crisp edges and crunchy walnuts sprinkled throughout. These cookies bake up perfectly: just the right amount of spread, full of chocolate chips and laced with plenty of vanilla and toasted walnuts. I can hardly think of a better cookie for a nut lover!

While these cookies look absolutely perfect, I can assure you that they taste perfect, too. The centers are puffy and chewy, the edges are crisp, and they are packed with plenty of chocolate chips and walnuts. These are the cookies to make for anyone who loves crunchy, toasted nuts in their cookies.

Substitutions and tips:

• You can substitute any type of nut for the walnuts here. Pistachios, cashews, and almonds are all great here; just make sure they're roughly the same size as chopped walnuts for optimal success. I have a recipe for chocolate chip cookies with pecans, also.
• This recipe is written in weights for precise results, but I listed regular cups, as well.
• We only need the egg yolk for this cookie recipe--save the egg white for another use. See here for ways to use egg whites.
• If you double the recipe to make more cookies, follow the recipe exactly: use two egg yolks, not the whole egg.
• I like to use a mix of chocolate in my cookies: some regular chocolate chips, some mini chocolate chips, and some chopped chocolate. This makes the most interesting cookies, in my opinion, but you can use whatever you have on hand.
• This dough has a 30-minute chill time to help the cookies hold their shape while baking. If you skip it, they might spread too much. If you leave the dough in the fridge longer than one hour, let it rest at room temperature until it's firm but scoopable.

Ingredients:

All-Purpose Flour.

Baking Soda.

Salt. Sea salt is what I use for baking desserts. Iodized salt can have a harsh taste. Kosher salt is great, too. Table salt can be too fine-grained and might result in twice the saltiness intended for the recipe.

Butter. Unsalted butter is best for baking, because we're adding salt to the recipe. Let it rest at room temperature for at least an hour or two to soften completely.

Granulated Sugar.

Brown Sugar. You can use light or dark brown sugar, your choice. Dark brown sugar has more molasses and will make slightly chewier cookies. See my brown sugar chocolate chip cookies for a description why.

Egg Yolk. Just one large egg yolk. Be sure to save the egg white for mini pavlovas or something else with egg whites.

Vanilla.

Chocolate Chips. Regular semisweet chocolate chips are great, but it's also fun to mix up regular and mini chips for a cookie that has chocolate in every bite. If you want cookies with melting puddles of chocolate, use a chopped chocolate bar instead of chips.

Walnuts. Toast walnut halves, lightly chop them, and then measure them. Always measure nuts after chopping when the recipe says to add 'chopped nuts.' See the photos for the size to chop the walnuts.

How to make chocolate chip cookies with walnuts:

1. Gather the ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, room temperature butter, the sugars, the egg yolk, vanilla, chocolate chips and walnuts.
   
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. A whisk breaks up any lumps and prevents the need for sifting flour--try it!
   
3. Next, in a medium bowl, add the butter and granulated sugar, and cream it together with an electric mixer on HIGH. Add the brown sugar.
   
4. Using the electric mixer, beat until everything is light and fluffy, about 1 minute. This fully incorporates the sugar into the butter. The sugar cuts into the butter with its grains and creates air pockets that puff in the oven.
   
5. Next, add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat until combined.
   
6. Now, add the sifted flour, baking soda and salt on top. Beat until just combined, being careful not to over-mix.
   
7. Finally, it's time to add the chocolate chips and walnuts. Stir them in until just combined.
   
8. Chill this dough in the fridge for 30 minutes. If you skip the chilling time, the cookies might spread too much in the oven. If you chill them longer than an hour, let them rest on the counter at room temperature until they're still firm but scoopable.
9. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees Fahrenheit. Scoop into 12 perfect dough balls and evenly space them on a cookie sheet.
   
10. Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes, and allow them to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
    

How to make ahead and store:

To store the raw cookie dough, scoop it into balls, and place each ball not touching on a sheet. Freeze for 4 hours until firm, and then you can place them in plastic bags. This is called an 'individual quick freeze' and it allows you to store frozen foods touching without it sticking together.

To store already baked cookies, stack them in an airtight container once they're completely cool and leave at room temperature if you'll be eating them within 2 days. You can freeze them already cooked, and then let them defrost at room temperature before serving, too.

Other nutty treats:

• Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Cranberry and Walnuts
• Ricotta Gnocchi with Blue Cheese and Walnuts
• Pear Salad with Hazelnuts
• Peanut Butter Truffles
• Almond Bars