Chocolate Chip Cookies

Two weeks ago a friend of mine posted on Facebook that he tried to bake cookies. The unfortunate verdict from his daughter was.... They taste like cheese! 

I really felt sorry for him as I know he put all his heart into making these cookies.

That was when I decided to put up this recipe. It is one of my most trusted ones and the cookies come out perfect every single time. The original recipe is from a twenty year old Betty Crooker cookbook which I bought during my first visit to the US.

I modified it slightly to my taste. This recipe is for 5-6 dozen cookies.

I pre-heat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with a sheet of parchment.

Now I am all set to start.

A lot of people use ready made chocolate chips for their cookies but I prefer to cut up a good dark chocolate bar into pieces. It gives a more intense flavour. So, to begin with I cut 300g of chilled good dark chocolate with 70% cocoa in it into 1cm pieces.

In a big bowl I mix 100g each unsalted and salted soft butter, 250 brown sugar and 60g egg into a smooth paste. In another bowl I mix 350g flour and 1 teaspoon baking soda. I sieve the flour into the butter mixture and knead it into a stiff dough.

I coarsely chop 100g nuts. I use either walnuts, almonds or unsalted pistachios. But you can use any kind of nuts you like. I add the nuts with the chocolate to the dough and mix it well.

I drop rounded teaspoons full of dough onto the baking tray. Make sure you leave about 5cm space between them as the dough will flatten into nice yummy cookies while baking.

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. They will be light brown and soft in the centre. Let them cool down a bit before you remove them from the baking tray. This is where the parchment comes in handy as you can remove the entire sheet from the baking tray and just line it with a fresh one for the next round of cookies.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for about a week. They also freeze well. Id you don't want to make that many cookies you can freeze part of the dough. Just ensure that it is wrapped well into cling foil to avoid that it ii drying out while defrosting.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen.

Love

Carola