Gooey Chocolate Chip-Cranberry Cookies

A few years ago I went on a quest to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. I came up with one I liked a lot, but when I went to replicate it in my parents' kitchen, it didn't turn out right. Then, we moved, and I couldn't get it to work ever again. There must be something about the temperature of that particular oven, or the humidity of that apartment, or some other intangible involved. So ... I'm not guaranteeing that this new recipe I've worked out will perform exactly right in all kitchens. But for the first time in five years, I'm again eating what I consider a perfect chocolate chip cookie.

My criteria for "best" means that 1) it tastes so good as a dough that you barely even want to cook them, 2) that it tastes so good just-cooled that they melt in your mouth, and 3) they taste so good the next day because they retain their flexibility and moistness. (Warning: do not make a full batch of these cookies if you don't have someone to share them with; otherwise you'll eat nothing but cookies for a day straight, seriously.)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour, packed
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375º. Prepare two cookie sheets covered in parchment paper.

2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, use a fork to mix together softened butter and the sugars.

3. Add egg and vanilla and use fork to mix again.

4. Add flour, baking soda, and salt on top. Shake the bowl a little to lightly distribute the baking soda, and then mix with fork.

5. Add chocolate chips and cranberries and mix together.

6. Spoon a slightly rounded tablespoon-worth onto the parchment, then flatten with your fingers. Repeat until you have 20-24 cookies served and flattened. (May make less if you're eating dough as you go along.)

7. Bake in 375º oven for 11-12 minutes, rotating once halfway through. The edges of the cookies will brown slightly, but the centers will still be mostly white and look undone. This is OK.

8. Take cookie sheets out of oven and them cool down with the cookies still on the sheets. This retained heat will complete the cooking process without getting them overbaked at the edges.

9. Eat some as soon as they're tolerably cool (I probably don't need to instruct you on that...), and when the rest are fully cool, store in plastic bag to keep fresh for several days.