Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, vanilla and almond extract in large bowl until blended. Add egg; beat until fluffy. Beat in flour mixture. Stir pecans and chocolate pieces into dough.

Using 2 tablespoonfuls dough for each cookie, drop dough mounds onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Press tops slightly to flatten.

Bake cookies until edges begin to brown but centers are still soft, about 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks; cool completely. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

This recipe yields about 18 cookies.

Comments: In 1933, Ruth Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, chopped up some chocolate bars and added the chunks to cookie dough, hoping that they would blend into the dough as they melted. Instead they held their shape, and Toll House cookies were a delicious creation. By the 1940s they were a hit.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.