I have always envied the cookie monster. If ever he feels a little sad, or stressed, or worried, or excited, or joyful, or basically any emotion, he resorts to stuffing his face with an apparently never-ending source of chocolatey crumbly deliciously cookies…I think we should all live by his cookie-dependent way of life! Cookies are one of my favourite things to bake, I multiplied this lovely Donna Hay recipe by 5 (!!!) because you can never really have too many cookies… But also, I tutor a bunch of very clever and hard working Year 12 students, who are sitting their final exams this week! I wrapped them each a little pack of these ‘Swotvac Cookies’ last week to keep their brains fuelled and thriving during this stressful but exciting time. Hopefully their grades will be bumped up a bit as a result of my baking efforts 😉
These classic chunky chocolate chip cookies are slightly soft and chewy, but they still have just the right amount of crunch (in my opinion). I prefer my cookies on the crumblier side, so I love that this recipe calls for dark brown sugar instead of white sugar. The cookies are almost caramely (is that a word?) as a result, yum!
You can add whatever you like to flavour these cookies, be it a little cocoa powder for a double choc cookie, or nuts, coconut, M’n’Ms etc, as long as your favourite flavours are added in moderation, the cookies will still work out beautifully.
Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies
Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Recipe from the lovely Donna Hay
INGREDIENTS
- 180 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 120 g dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 300 g plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
- 150 g chocolate (I used a combination of white and dark chunks)
METHOD
- Preheat fan-forced oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in an electric mixer on medium-high until pale and creamy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- With the beater on medium-low speed, gradually add flour and baking powder and continue beating until a smooth dough forms.
- Turn the beater to its lowest setting, or use a wooden spoon, to gently mix the chocolate through the dough.
- Roll roughly 2 tablespoons of dough into balls and press them onto a lined baking tray. Pat them down gently until they sit about 1 cm high. They will spread significantly as they cook, so leave at least an inch between each cookie.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Remember cookies are always very soft when hot from the oven, but they will harden as they cool, so be careful not to over-bake! Allow them to cool on their trays before serving (or at least let them cool for a few minutes if you can’t wait that long).
Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
one perfect mess 