My chocolate chip cookie recipe is just one of thousands upon thousands out there in the world—but it does have a few aspects that make it dear to me. The first is that it is made with melted, not softened butter. This makes the cookies lightly crisp on the outside, soft and tender in the middle and eliminates the need for an electric mixer. The mixer-free method also means you can make cookies in even the most sparsely equipped kitchen – like, say a vacation rental.

The second big advantage to this this recipe is that it’s easily halved—for those times when you don’t want forty-odd cookies.

I first made these for a day on the water spent chasing L’Hermione, the frigate Lafayette sailed to America to help the then-colonists win their independence from the British. Hence, the name.

8 oz./2 sticks (230 g.) melted butter
1 1/2 cups (300 g) lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (110 g.) granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. (4 g.) baking soda
1 tsp. (5 g.) salt
2 2/3 cups (360 g.) flour
2 cups/12 oz. (350 g.) chocolate chips

Preheat  the oven to 350˚F/180˚C., and line baking sheets with parchment paper (parchment paper can be reused for several batches)

Whisk together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in large bowl. Whisk in eggs and vanilla, then baking soda and salt. Stir in flour with spatula or wooden spoon. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover bowl, and chill 30 minutes, or up to two days. (Chilling them 4 to 8 hours produces the best results.)

Scoop 2 Tbs. rounded balls of dough onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, switching baking sheets from upper to lower racks halfway through baking time. Cool cookies on baking sheets. Makes 44 – 48 cookies