The Best Cookie in the World

When I was growing up I was never a big cookie fan. My mom isn't much of a baker (but cooks anything and everything else better than a chef), and so we never had real homemade cookies.

I started doing more baking and cooking after HB and I started living together. His mom got me a subscription to Taste of Home (which wasn't great) and then I discovered this recipe. Other than this one, I haven't had any keepers from a Taste of Home magazine, but this one makes up for all the lousy meals. 

I made a big bunch of them yesterday and as usual they were wonderful. 

I don't follow ALL the directions exactly though. I know you are supposed to mix all of the wet ingredients and all of the dry separately, but I just throw everything in the mixer and it always ends up fine. Also, I never chop up the almonds - usually I just buy them slivered. Because they only take nine minutes to bake, you can have cookies in about twenty minutes if you have all the ingredients. 

The BEST part of this recipe is that the dough is a good base. I mix and match ingredients a LOT. One time I did cherries, walnuts, and bittersweet chips. Another time I used macadamia nuts and white chocolate. I just use ingredients I have lying around the house and can usually come up with something good. 

What are your favorite cookie ingredient combinations?