Sunday 11 May 2008

Totally Chocolate Chip Cookies


The other night I was taken by the need to bake something, but not just anything. Something chocolate and comforting. I turned to Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Express and her Instant Calmer chapter, and these cookies seemed to fit the bill perfectly. They really are a totally chocolate experience, just knowing you had some of these in the house should be a calmer in itself!

These are also in print in Elinor Klivans’s Big Fat Cookies, where in turn Nigella found them. Recipes that pass from one cook to another like this are usually good recipes, ones that stand the test of several kitchens =) I mention this both to give credit and to show where the recipe hails from.

This is the full recipe here, but I halved it and just made 6 whopping cookies! I did consider down sizing them, but decided this wasn’t in the spirit of things, so left them as the six colossal cookies that they are. I’ve copied the recipe across from here. My note for the recipe is that I thought they were at their best a day or two after making them, they seemed to get more fudgy. Sometimes only chocolate will do!


45 Totally Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Express.

125g/4oz dark chocolate
150g/5¼oz plain flour
30g/1oz cocoa, sifted
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda½ tsp salt
125g/4oz unsalted butter, softened
75g/2½oz light brown sugar
50g/2oz caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 free-range egg, cold from the fridge
350g/12¼oz dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.
2. Break the 125g/4oz dark chocolate into pieces and place into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until melted.
3. Place the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl and mix well.
4. In another bowl, cream the butter and two sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and stir well.
5. Beat in the vanilla extract and crack in the egg, then mix in the dry ingredients. Finally stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Scoop out 12 equal portions of the mixture - an ice cream scoop and a palette knife are the best tools for the job - and place onto a lined baking sheet about 6cm/2½in apart. Do not flatten them.
7. Transfer to the oven and bake for 18 minutes, then test with a skewer - it should come out semi-clean and not wet with batter. If you pierce a chocolate chip, try again.
8. Leave the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to harden as they cool.

21 comments:

vonsachsen said...

Mmmm,fudgy sounds just perfect!

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

You are soooooo right -- sometimes only chocolate will do. I love fudgy cookies, so I'm bookmarking this recipe.

Sandy said...

Sometimes fudge is required. I should try these.

hungryandfrozen said...

Oh yum! I've looked at these before, they sound so good...and look fab too. I love stuff that gets better on sitting, unfortunately I usually don't have the patience to wait esp. not with chocolate!! x

Anna's kitchen table said...

KJ, I too love these cookies!! I've made them many times now - and I would go as far as saying that they are the best chocolate cookies ever!
:-)
xx

KJ said...

I could really do with one of those biscuits right now!!!!

Nickki said...

YUM! These cookies have been on my must bake list for ages now, seeing your picture makes me want to bake them right now! They look perfect x

Sylvie said...

Oh my how could you possibly not be happy with one of these in your hand and a glass of milk on stand by!?

Oh my! Apple pie! said...

Those cookies are the best...I love them!

Cynthia said...

Bring out the milk :)

Maria♥ said...

Kelly these are perfect!! I'm drooling here....

Maria
x

Deborah said...

I agree - if a cook uses a recipe from another cook, you know it's a good one! And these look amazing!

Patricia Scarpin said...

I have "Big Fat Cookies" and the recipes are amazing. These are no exception - I have made them more than once and they are delicious. Yours look decadently dark, Kelly-Jane, yum!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Just when I was moaning about an empty cookie jar, I see your post. These cookies look amazing! I will have to make them - soon!

Anonymous said...

Yummy! Love these cookies... I got some awesome recipes from Better World cooking books...

Kelly-Jane said...

Thank you all for your kind comments :)

KJxx

Maggie said...

Yes - those chocolate chip cookies do look whoppers!
Much better for you than those greasy 'Millies' ones and you have the pleasure of cooking them too.

Rosie said...

Oh K.J. what perfect fudgy cookies and when you want that choccy hit cookies are just great *smile* Lovely pic too!

Rosie x

Anonymous said...

I have made these and they really are the BEST chocolate cookies EVER! I have to stop making them as I just eat them all day long.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing the recipe. I just found the recipe on You Tube, but I needed to know how much chocolate to use. Wish I could buy the bags with chocolate chips in Denmark.

Anonymous said...

I agree, these are quite possibly the best choc chip cookies I have made. My husband has asked that I make them this weekend as he says he is in "need" of them lol....