Foodie Friday: Chewy Gooey Chocolate Chunk Cookies

A few weeks ago I sent a dear friend a care package – a big box stacked full of chocolate chunk cookies. She wrote me the sweetest thank you telling me how (with a little help from her friends) the cookies didn’t make it through the night.

I believe it. The “broken and little more well-done” cookies stayed behind, and what a coincidence, they didn’t make it through the night at our house either!

I have to thank Dorie Greenspan and her amazing recipe. Dorie calls the recipe ‘My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies’. With a name like that, I figured it would probably end up being my favorite as well. And it is. The one thing I had to do was to slightly alter the name, changing  the word ‘chip’ to ‘chunk’. Just had to, because any random bite can result in savoring a big chunk of dark chocolate. Oh yum.

Dorie’s (and mine) Favorite Chewy Gooey Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon baking soda

2 stick’s unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup light brown sugar (packed)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (chopped/broken into chunks)

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

• Center rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Line cookie sheets with Silpat or parchment.
• Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for about 1 minute until smooth.
• Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes or so until well blended.
• Beat in the vanilla.
• Add eggs one at a time – beating for 1 minute as each egg goes in.
• Reduce mixer speed to low, and add the dry ingredients in 3 potions, mixing only until each ingredient is incorporated.
• With a rubber spatula, mix in the chocolate and nuts by hand.
• Spoon the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the cookie sheets, and space about 2 inches apart.
• Bake the cookies for 10 -12 minutes (or until the edges are brown and golden in the center), and rotate them in the oven midway. (They may still be a little soft in the middle – but Dorie says that that’s fine.)
• When done, remove from oven, and let them rest for a couple of minutes.
• With a metal spatula, transfer them from the pan to a cooling rack.

(For my care package I doubled the recipe.)

I highly recommend pouring yourself a big glass of really cold milk…enjoy!

Happy baking.

Love, Nora