Chocolate Indulgences

If you have been reading along with my cooking experiements these last 9 months, then you know chocolate is something I simply cannot live without. Actually, I should say I won't live without it. I love everything about chocolate. I love how rich it is, how it melts so smoothly upon hitting your tongue... oh yeah, I won't give up chocolate for anything.

I bet you are wondering where I am going with this post. Well, the other day I was at the library returning our Disney World books when I spied a cookie cookbook that was calling my name. Cookies: More Than 200 Recipes appealed to me right away. Yes, I have several other cookbooks that focus on cookies, but where's the harm in doing a test-run on a different one?

Since I've been sending in cookies as a lunchbox dessert for my boys each day, I thought it would be fun to try a new one on them as a surprise. I happened to have most of the ingredients on hand for the Soft and Chewy Chocolate Indulgences. Which also meant that I'd get to sample for purposes of reviewing this recipe. Don't you love how that works?

These cookies were everything I had hoped they would be! They were rich, chocolate-y and soft and chewy. The perfect chocolate cookie. They even stay soft if kept in an air-tight container for a couple of days. Now if you want them to last longer than that, you'll need to put them in the freezer and not tell anyone you made them!

The only substitutions I made were to use white chocolate chips and M&Ms since I was out of semi-sweet chips (shocking!). I think the white chips were pretty next to the dark chocolate color of the cookie. I'll have to use more next time I make these. My Youngest who I've mentioned before has a preference for traditional chocolate chip cookie declared these to be "the bestest cookies ever!". I think that's high praise from my little kindergartener!

I'm sure I'll be making more cookies from this book... which will probably mean I'll have to order it from Amazon soon! My wish list keeps growing!

Here are some other chocolate indulgences you may want to try:
Recipegirl made some Chocolate Chip Toffee Scones that sound like they'd make a decadent treat at brunch.
Peabody turned Dorie Greenspans Chocolate Malted Cookies into Chocolate Malted Cupcakes that are sure to cure that chocolate craving.
Prudence Pennywise recently made the ultimate in summer desserts: Chocolate and Peanut Butter S'more Bars.

Soft & Chewy Chocolate Indulgences
Source: Cookies: More Than 200 Recipes by Jill Snider

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (white chocolate chips and/or M&Ms can be substituted)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar together at medium speed using an electric mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat well. On low speed, gradually add flour mixture, beating until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart on a prepared cookie sheet (I use parchment paper and that helps with clean-up and keeping the cookies from getting stuck to the baking sheet). Bake in a pre-heated oven for 8-12 minutes or just until set. Cookies will be set around edges, but soft in the middle. They will finish cooking while cooling for 5 minutes on the baking sheets. Remove after 5 minutes and allow to finish cooling on wire racks.