• In a large mixing bowl, beat butter & sugar with a hand mixer until smooth & incorporated.
• Add in the eggs & vanilla extract & mix until combined.
• Add in the flour, salt, & baking soda. Mix until everything is well combined.
• Sprinkle in the chocolate chips (you can reserve some for topping or just add more). Using a spatula, mix in the chocolate chips. The batter should be thick and sticky.
• Form the dough into 12-16 large balls! They seem huge, but trust me on this one. This is how they get the perfect crispy to soft/ chewy ratio. They are supposed to be a bakery style/ size cookie. If you don't like big cookies, just eat half, but good luck haha! You can make them smaller, but I promise making them this size is part of what makes them!
• From here, you have three options. You can bake right away, refrigerate, or freeze the dough.

To bake now:

• If you want to bake them right away, you will still get a fabulous cookie, it just won't be very crispy on the bottom. It will be most soft throughout. If that's what you want to do, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
• Place your cookies on a lined baking sheet. You will have to do 2 batches. If you want, you can top the cookies with extra chocolate chips. This also gives that bakery style look.
• Bake for 8-12 minutes until cooked but still soft in the center.
• When they are done, remove from the oven, sprinkle with sea salt and let cool on your baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. Move to a wire rack & enjoy!

To bake from fridge:

• For refrigerated cookies, which is my ideal method, you can form your dough balls and refrigerate right on your baking sheet for at least an hour. You can also leave them in the fridge for up to 2 days and you'll just bake them directly from the fridge. If you do them in the fridge for more than a few hours, I'd go ahead and store them in an airtight container. This step always seems like it takes too long, but Im telling you IT IS SO WORTH IT! Letting the dough sit for an hour or overnight lets the flavors come together & brings them out even more when baking them. It also creates the perfect cookie that’s crispy & caramelized on the edges and soft and doughy on the inside. It’s perfection!
• When you bake them, preheat your oven to 375F degrees. Take the cookies straight from the fridge to a lined baking sheet (if they aren't on there already), and bake for 12-15 minutes until your cookies are crispy on the edges and still soft in the middle. They should have a little golden on the edges! Remove from oven, sprinkle with sea salt and let cool on your baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. Move to a wire rack & enjoy!

To bake from freezer:

• For the freezer version, all you have to do is store the dough balls in the freezer bag or you can just freeze some if you don't want to cook all 12 at once!
• When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375F degrees. Once the oven is ready, place your cookies on a lined baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes until cookies are crispy on the edges and soft in the middle.
• This version will give you the crispiest edges with a super soft middle! They're amazing! Remove from the oven, sprinkle with sea salt and let cool on your baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. Move to a wire rack & enjoy!