Preheat oven to 350F
Slice butter sticks into pieces, allow it to soften
Mix sugar (white and brown) and softened butter in mixer until blended
Toss in each egg one at a time
Pour vanilla extract in
Mix baking soda and hot water until dissolved
Add to mixer along with salt
Pour in flour slowly
Add in your sweets (chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, nuts, etc...)
Roll up dough into roughly the size of a meatball and place on ungreased baking sheet
Bake for approximately 10 minutes. Once edges are brown remove and wait 3-5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. I like to remove it before the edges are brown for extra chewy cookies
Any extra dough, store in fridge and use within 3-5 days. Let ball of dough rest 10 minutes before cooking to shake off some of that fridge temperature.