Double Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I haven't posted anything sweet yet, so I thought it was high time I did! This cookie recipe is one of our favorites. I found it after searching for a recipe that replicated a cookie dough that Abe bought in a fund-raiser--it was a "gourmet" cookie dough, made with all natural ingredients (nothing that ended in -ate), so I thought that with a little searching and tinkering, I could find one that was similar enough to make at home. I tried several, and finally (as is often the case) found this one in a cookbook I already owned, Mrs. Fields Cookie Book. Her recipe called for regular cocoa powder and regular semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I revised it to use dark chocolate cocoa and dark chocolate chips, thereby satisfying my dark chocolate yen.

Typically, I only make six or eight cookies at a time and keep the dough in the fridge in an attempt to slow our cookie consumption, but I must admit that this effort is only partially successful; the dough is every bit as delectable unbaked, and it is ever-so-easy to grab a spoonful anytime I pass the fridge. As tasty as these cookies are, I seem to pass the fridge more frequently when this cookie dough is tucked inside.

Double Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. dark chocolate cocoa powder
1 c. dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 c. white sugar
1 c. softened salted butter (I wouldn't substitute if I were you)
3 lg. eggs (at room temperature)
2 tsp. pure vanilla
1 bag (12 oz.) dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, blend the sugars, then add the butter and cream to form a grainy paste.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the eggs and the vanilla. Beat at medium speed until fully combined.

Add the flour mixture, a bit at a time, on low speed, then add the chocolate chips and mix until just combined.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet, 1 1/2 in. apart. Bake for 18-22 min.Immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool. (I use parchment paper to line my cookie sheets--it facilitates easy cleanup, nothing sticks, and you can slide the whole sheet of baked cookies onto the cooling rack without even using a spatula. One less thing to wash!)

Now, these really take no time at all to whip up, and I regularly have the dough all made before the oven is even hot enough to put them in, but sometimes, you just don't plan ahead enough to bring the butter and eggs to room temperature, or you don't have vanilla, or you just don't want to dirty all of your measuring implements. I get that. So I offer you the quickest, easiest recipe for cookies ever. They aren't quite as good as homemade-from-scratch cookies, but when you've got an itch for cookies that you need to scratch as quickly as possible, this one is the one.

Couldn't Be Easier Cookies

1 box cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 c. vegetable oil

Mix. Roll into 1/2 in. balls, and bake at 350 until golden brown, 10-14 min.

Here's the beauty of this one: you can tailor it any which way you like, depending on your craving or on what you have on hand. Use chocolate cake mix and chocolate chips (about half a package) for Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies. Use a white cake mix and roll the dough balls in colored sugar for sugar cookies. Use a yellow cake mix and roll in cinnamon sugar for Snickerdoodle look-alikes.

Like I said, these aren't quite as wonderful as homemade cookies, but they are great in a pinch! (As proof, I offer this evidence: I've made them three times in the past three weeks...)