2 cubes (8 oz.) butter
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs (or 1 egg and 2 egg whites; OR 4 egg whites)
2 1/4 c. unsifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. hot water
2 c. (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1. Adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover cookie sheets with aluminum foil.

2. In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter. Add the salt, vanilla, and both sugars. Beat well. Add the eggs and beat well.

3. On low speed add about half the flour and, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula, beat only until incorporated. In a small cup stir the baking soda into the hot water to dissolve it, then mix it into the dough. Add the remaining flour and beat only to mix.

4. Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the chocolate morsels.

5. Although this dough can be simply dropped from a teaspoon, they are much better if you roll the dough between your hands into balls for a more even shape and color. Use a rounded teaspoon of dough for each cookie and place the mounds on wax paper. Then wet hands with cold water, shake off excess water, pick up a mound of dough and roll it between your hands into a smooth, round shape, then press it between your hands to flatten into a round shape about 1/2 inch thick and place it on the foil covered cookie sheets.

6. Bake two sheets at a time, reversing the sheets top to bottom and front to back as necessary during baking to insure even browning.

7. Bake for about 12 minutes or until browned all over. Let the cookies cool for a few seconds on the foil until they are firm enough to be moved. Transfer with a wide metal spatula to racks to cool. Store airtight. Makes about 55 3-inch cookies.