Chocolate Chip Cookies for Kids with No Teeth

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My son goes to a pre-school/daycare near where we live and at this time of year, all the classrooms have Hanukkah party.  He is the oldest in the 12-18 month room, so he is one of the few kids in the class who can eat everything (some of the younger kids don't have many teeth yet).  Over the last few months, room has kind of turned into the infant room, with a couple of kids who are much younger than 12 months and who don't eat food at all, so their classroom was not really planning to have a Hanukkah party.  One of the other moms and I decided we should do something anyway.  She offered to make sandwiches in the shape of Jewish stars (even though her daughter is 7 months and doesn't eat sandwiches) and I agreed to make cookies.

I thought that all kids probably like chocolate chip cookies (at least the ones who have teeth) and so that is what I decided to make.  I turned to Dorie (because where else do the baking sisters turn?) and decided to make her chocolate chip cookies, which she said are the best.  They came together really easily (side note -- I do not understand people who use cookie mix from a box.  It does not take any less time and the from scratch cookies taste sooo much better.  Cake mix, I understand.  You might worry it won't rise or something, but cookies are pretty fool proof -- end of rant).  Anyway, I decided to make them small because the kids are small and, although I was intending to make softer cookies, following Dorie's baking time overcooked them, probably because they were small.

I halved the recipe (which is really easy to do), although I think I forgot to halve the salt because I could really taste it.  It was not a bad thing.  It added to the depth of flavor of the cookies, but I don't know if I did something wrong or not.  For those of you who have made these before, is the salt really prominent or did I forget to halve it?

Anyway, still got a lot of cookies out of it, so I froze some of the dough.  The cookies were delicious.  Really, really flavorful, with just the right ratio of chocolate to cookie.  Dorie suggests chopping the chocolate, but I used regular chips and it was totally fine.

Here is the recipe:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12 ouncs bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 2 cups store-bought chocolate chips or chunks
1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchmentor silicone mats.
Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed for about 1 minute, until smooth. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes or so, until well-blended. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in 3 portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated. On low speed, or by hand with a ruber spatula, mix in the chocolate and nuts. (The dough can be covered andd refrigerated for up to 3 days, or frozen. If you'd like, rounded tablespoonfuls of dough, ready for baking. Freeze the mounds on a lined baking sheet, then bag them when they're solid. There's no need to defrost the ough before baking-just add another minute or two to the baking time.)

Spoon the dough by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between spoonfuls.

Bake the cookies- one sheet at a time and rotating the sheet at the midway point- for 10-12 minutes, or until they are brown at the edges and golden in the center; they may still be a little soft in the middle, and that's just fine. Pull the sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for 1 minute, then carefully, using a wide metal spatula, transfer them to racks to cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remainder of the dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.