Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies

The holidays are over and this lone cookie, residing in an old fruitcake tin after its brethren were devoured over the last few days, is one of the sad remnants of my holiday excess. I have never been much of a baker, being more enamored of savory rather than sweet treats. However, this past holiday season, I developed a love of baked goods from my own kitchen (making the apartment smell like Christmas, a holiday my husband and I fervently celebrate - short of any religious elements - despite neither of us being Christian). I found the exact measurements required for baking oddly liberating.

This recipe was adapted from a recipe for orange cranberry brownie cookies (from a website I sadly can no longer recall). While the original recipe sounded heavenly, having neither orange zest nor dried cranberries handy, I settled for straightforward chocolate chocolate chunk cookies. The cookies were just the right consistency - soft yet chewy - and flavor, i.e., pure chocolate decadence. It also gave me an excuse to finally try out my Valrhona cocoa powder (an impulsive buy at Whole Foods).

Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar (I just used organic cane sugar as I did not have brown sugar)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chunks (preferably semi-sweet or bittersweet)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In a large mixing bowl, stir together melted butter and sugars. Mix in the egg and vanilla.

4. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until no streaks of flour remain. Fold in the chocolate chips.

5. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheet. Leave about 2 to 3-inches between cookies to allow for spreading.

6. Bake for 9-11 minutes (it only took 9 minutes in my oven, though I think I could have taken the cookies out of the oven at 8 minutes), until cookies are set at the edges and tops are slightly cracked looking.

7. Cool on baking sheets for 5-10 minutes, until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack.

Makes about 1 dozen.