Beverly Chatfield’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

When she was in elementary, these were my youngest daughter’s absolute favorite cookies.  They might still be her go-to comfort food.  Enjoy!

• 2-1/2 Cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 9NOT baking powder)
• 1/4  teaspoon salt
• 1 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 sticks (1 Cup) oleo, softened to room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 12-oz. semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 Cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Sift the dry ingredients together.  In a large bowl, blend softened oleo with brown and white sugar.  Mix until creamy.  Dump in the eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Dump in the dry ingredients, chocolate chips and nuts all at once.  Mix on low speed until just combined.  Don’t over mix.  Drop in globs from a teaspoon (cereal or soup size spoon, not a measuring spoon) onto a cookie sheet.  Don’t grease the cookie sheet, or the bottoms of the cookies will cook too fast.  The globs of cookie dough should not be touching.  Bake at 300 degrees F for 24 minutes.  Remove the cookies from the pan immediately with a spatula and let them cool on a flat surface or a cookie cooling rack.