1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. To reduce clumsiness, sift through a sifter or sieve. Gently mix these together, then set the bowl aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars together, then beat in eggs and vanilla extract, vanilla essence . The coarseness of the sugar granules will help break the butter down, so be sure to do this first. Then add the eggs and vanilla and mix again until completely combined.
3. Gradually a cup at a time add the dry ingredients from the medium bowl to the wet ingredients in the large bowl, then add chocolate chips. Pour a cup of the dry ingredients, stir, and repeat until the dry and wet ingredients are totally combined. Fold the chocolate chips in until fully incorporated. At this point you should have a moderately thick cookie dough.
Do not over-stir the dough. While the dry ingredients should be added gradually, don’t do so little at a time that your dough turns to brick. Aim for adding the dry ingredients in four or five batches.
4. Drop spoon of cookie dough onto a pre-grease or a lined baking sheet. Leave at least an inch of space between the cookies because they'll spread out when they bake. You can usually fit 12 cookies on a full-sized cookie sheet at a time.