Alton Brown's principles, adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe.

2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 large whole egg, plus 1 large egg yolk
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chunks cut from a bar.
4 oz. chopped pecans
fleur de sel or other fine salt.

1) Combine the melted butter with the sugar over medium speed in a stand mixer.
2)Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda.
3) Add the egg and yolk, and vanilla extract to the stand mixer.
4) Very slowly add your flour.
5) Add the chocolate and pecans and mix until combined.
6)Chill the batter thoroughly in the fridge.
7) Preheat the oven to 325
8) Scoop the batter in huge, even, spoonfuls onto parchment paper.
9) Sprinkle with fleur de sel or other fine salt.
10) Bake for 18 minutes.
11) Cool for 15 then enjoy!

Note: If you are planning to eat all the cookies right away, you may want to use 1 cup or brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white sugar and/or 2 eggs instead of 1 egg and one yolk . This will give the cookies more structure right out of the oven but will make them not as chewy after a day or so.