The best chocolate chip cookies you'll ever eat

These are my favorite chocolate chip cookies ever.  And they aren't that difficult to make.  I think I made 100 of them in the span of a week.  First I made 3 dozen before I moved - I baked some and brought them into the lab for a birthday, and froze the rest so I could bake as needed.  Then I made 5 dozen for my mom's birthday - made them, shaped them and baked them all in one night!  Everyone thinks I'm crazy since I did all kinds of baking while I was moving.
But anyway, make these cookies!  You can cut out some of the butter, I usually cut out 1-2 tbsp per batch, and I'm sure you could cut out even more.  But make sure that whatever butter you cut out is not the butter that is browned - you want all of that wonderful toffee flavor!
The dough freezes really well, so you can make a ton, shape them, and then cook them later.  Just make sure to thaw them out before cooking.  I think some were still too frozen when I cooked them, and they didn't bake very well.
Oh and the original recipe says to make them much bigger than I do - I use my size 40 scooper, which I think is about 1-1.5 tbsp.

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Family, Friends and Food)
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
14 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar (I only had light brown and it was fine)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks (I used a combination, and it was dark chocolate)
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (I didn't use)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl and set aside.

Heat 10 tbsp butter in 10-inch stainless steel skillet (it's easier to see if the butter is brown) over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes.

Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1-3 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl.  Stir remaining 4 tbsp butter into hot butter until completely melted.

Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated.

Add egg and yolk (make sure butter mixture isn't too hot) and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds.

Let mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds.  Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny.

Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough a final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

Use a #40 cookie scoop and arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.  Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until the edges are starting to get golden brown and the cookies are puffy, about 8 minutes.  The centers will still be soft and look uncooked.  Let cool on the sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.