Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Remember when your mom told you that eating raw cookie dough would give you worms? I never did believe her or if I did, I did not care. I threw all caution to the wind and ate as much raw cookie dough as I could sneak passed her.
It was my job to bake the family cookies beginning in the second grade. That is how I learned fractions and got my fill of cookie dough! I became quite the cookie monster and still am.
These are my favorite chocolate chip cookies. It is a basic recipe with a little twist. Try browning the butter to add a toffee taste to the cookies. I hope you like them!

1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cup cups semisweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
3/4 cup toasted walnuts*

Adjust the oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375°. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl and set aside.
Heat 10 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan often until butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma. This will take 4-6 minutes. Transfer browned butter to a large heatproof bowl, using a spatula to scrape out the pan. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk again for 30 seconds. Repeat the process of whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. This will dissolve all the sugar. (The dissolved sugar caramelizes more easily, creating a spectrum of toffee flavors and influencing texture. Uh... that was just in case you care about such things.) Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir the flour mixture in the butter mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and toasted nuts. Give the dough a final stir to make sure no pockets of flour remain.
Roll cookie dough into walnut-sized balls. Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
bake cookies one tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have just begun to brown, 7-9 minutes. Let cookies begin to cool on baking sheet and then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly before eating a few!

* To toast walnuts: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange walnuts on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, checking frequently.