Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

OK, I owe this one to my son who is 13 years old and has now become a regular in the kitchen making these cookies two weeks in a row. Let me say that they are THE BEST chocolate chip cookie I personally have ever had. Last week we added white chocolate chips to the batter (my preference) and this week we added regular chocolate (my son's preference). Either way, they are amazing!

1 cup of butter, softened, 1 cup of white sugar, 1 cup of brown sugar, 2 eggs, 2 tsp. of vanilla extract (we used vanilla bean because that's what we had), 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 tsp. of baking soda, 2 tsp. hot water, 1/2 tsp. of salt, 2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips (or white).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the butter, white sugar, brown sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour and chocolate chips. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned. So yum!!!! They are the crispy on the outside, soft on the inside sort.