Milk chocolate chunk cookies

A friend of mine asked me to make some cookies for a baby shower.  She wanted cookies -- she didn't care what kind of cookies -- her one request was just "cookies."  Luckily for me, she was ok with my suggestion for a variety of large cookies (while I would've loved to make her some baby shower theme shaped cookies with royal icing, it wasn't in the cards given the fact that I got back from vacation on Tuesday, had work the rest of the week, and had to go to Westchester for a doctor's appointment).

She was expecting 25 people and wanted around 30 cookies.  So for once, I decided I wasn't going to make mini cookies.  Large cookies seemed like the best option (that way people wouldn't likely be reaching for seconds).  And why stop at large cookies when I could make MASSIVE cookies?!

Originally I thought I would make some chocolate chunk cookies, which I made over two years ago on the blog.  They're a great cookie and -- although I love dark chocolate as much if not more than the average person -- really are quite awesome when made with milk chocolate chunks.  They're also a pretty big cookie, and I figured I could make them larger to make sure they're about the same size as some other cookies I was making for her (stay tuned for those posts soon!).

Milk Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Originally from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips -- I used 2 cups of milk chocolate chunks, which I got from cutting a giant milk chocolate bar cut into chunks

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C).
Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.

Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy.
Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.

Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.
Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup (for a ridiculously large cookie, one or two tablespoons for more standard-sized cookies.  I used a regular sized ice cream scoop, just less than completely filled) at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
I pressed the tops of my cookies a little to make them more like discs, since I wanted them bigger and flat.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes (closer to 12 minutes for non-1/4 cup scoop cookies...Mine took 15 minutes and came out perfectly!) in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted.
Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

I got 15 HUGE cookies!