Chocolate Chip Raisin Cookies

These cookies, which were baked in honor of Marianne's birthday, led to a moment of extreme pride for Bill as I handed him a hot cookie while he was sitting on the couch, watching the football game with his feet up last Sunday. He said he felt like calling up all his friends to brag about how good he's got it. Uninterrupted football plus hot cookies equal one happy Toles.
Marianne liked them too, and she's a much tougher critic.
Before I started meddling, this was an Alice Medrich recipe.
Alice writes:
"These cookies are especially delicious if you chill the dough overnight before baking. And for the best cookies of all - that is, the ones that are brown and crunchy at the edges and chewy in the centers - eschew parchment paper, silicone-coated pan liners, and/or cushioned pans, and simply bake on unlined, ungreased baking sheets."

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 t. salt
2 large eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
2/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, chunks or morsels
1 cup (4 ounces) finely chopped pecans
1 cup raisins

Mix the flour and baking soda together thoroughly. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, sugars and salt. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture just until all of the dry ingredients are moistened, then stir in the chocolate, nuts and raisins. If possible, cover and chill the dough for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

Position the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the dough from the refrigerator to soften.

Scoop up level tablespoonfuls of dough and place them 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake, rotating the cookie sheets from top to bottom and front to bak about halfway through the baking time, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown at the edges and no longer look wet on top. Use a metal pancake turner to transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely. (The cookies keep, in a tightly sealed container, for several days.)
Makes about 60 cookies