I like to think of it as a sort of… occupational hazard, all the left over bits of chocolate blocks and chocolate chips etc that are the by product of my culinary conquests. Except that technically my occupation is teaching… but… well… nevermind. So I finally figured it was time to make use of all these chocolate offcuts that have been cluttering my pantry. And luckily for me (and mum!) I knew just the recipe to try.
I recently bought Nigella Lawson’s “Nigella Express” after falling in love wither her dvds. Nestled inside this gem of a cookbook is her recipe for what she calls “Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies”. I prefer the simpler description of “Ultimate Chocolate Cookie”. I have been known to completely disregard the measurements for chocolate in most recipes, and this is definitely a recipe where chocolate amounts are rules that are made to be broken. In fact, the only rule you need to keep in mind when making these cookies is this, repeat after me –
You can NEVER have too much chocolate
So with that mantra in mind, I mixed up the dough. I used a little bit of Lindt, a few Chocolate Chips, a little bit of Nestle White Chocolate
and still something felt… unfinished.
so I added a few more snaps of dark chocolate. You know, for good measure!
And into the oven they go!
mmmm cookies and milk
In short, these are amazing. What more can I say?
The Ultimate Chocolate Cookie – Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s “Nigella Express”
Ingredients
125g dark chocolate
150g flour
30g cocoa
1 teaspoon bi-carb soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
125g butter
75g brown sugar
50g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg (Nigella says this should be cold from the fridge)
minimum 350g chocolate chunks or chips (any mix of white, milk or dark)
Method
1. Melt the 125g chocolate
2. Cream the butter and sugars together and add the melted chocolate
3. Beat in vanilla and egg, then add the cocoa, flour, bi-carb and salt
4. Add the rest of the chocolate (feel free to go crazy here!)
5. I used a soup spoon to gouge hefty chunks of cookie dough but Nigella sings the praises of her ice cream scoop. Use whatever you like! I ended up making 18 (Nigella makes 12, but her cookies must be as big as my head to only get 12 from that mix!)
6. Cook for 18 (ish) minutes in an oven at 170 degrees celcius
7. Eat, eat eat!
Oooh my boyfriend would LOVE these 🙂 are these chewy/soft or “hard” cookies? Or does it depend on how long you bake them for?…
Love your blog BTW! 🙂 Linked in from Vogue Forums!
They’re actually quite cakey and soft, I dont think the texture would change much regardless of how long you left them in for. I prefer my cookies to be a bit harder with more crunch, but with that much chocolate in them I would be in heaven just eating the dough! My mum just finished the last one though, she’s a real sucker for the soft cookie. Thanks for the feedback 🙂 hope your boy likes them! (save some for yourself!)