Best Chocolate Chip Cookies East of the Shinnecock Canal, No Exaggeration

Yesterday, parents were invited to Ms. Meyerhoff's class at Sag Harbor Elementary for a recitation of original Tall Tales, written by the students as party of their study of westward expansion. Every aspect of the project was perfect, from the watercolor backdrop to the performances (each student told a tale, from memory, as the others sat around the campfire and listened respectfully) to the beautifully illustrated books we were able to page through as we enjoyed a snack afterwards. I knew the bar would be set high, so I brought my best chocolate chip cookies, a marbled version with both semisweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chunks. Here is the recipe:

Marbled Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 40 cookies

You can use white "chocolate" morsels for these, but I chopped up a few real Lindt white chocolate bars from the IGA instead.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teapsoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup white chocolate chips or two three-ounce white chocolate bars, chopped into chunks
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Combine the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until well-combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture.
3. Divide the cookie dough equally between two bowls. Stir the cocoa powder into one of the bowls. Stir the white chocolate chips or chunks into the chocolate cookie dough. Stir the semisweet chocolate chips into the plain cookie dough.
4. Take a rounded teaspoonful of one dough and a rounded teaspoonful of the other dough and roll them together between your palms to form a single ball. Place dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between each cookie.
5. Bake the cookies until golden around the edge but still soft on top, 9 to 10 minutes. Slide the cookies, still on the parchment, onto a wire rack to cool completely.