Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the most chocolatey chocolate cookies I've ever made. Small surprise given that they involve melted chocolate, cocoa powder and chocolate chips. The recipe comes from Nigella Lawson's latest book, Nigella Express. And she apparently got it from a book called Big Fat Cookies. If you make these original size they really are big fat cookies, and so rich you will struggle to eat a whole one. I've already made this recipe twice, due to spousal demand, and the second time halved the size to give 24 cookies instead of 12. This is better, I think, and less likely to result in big fat Whites.

I've tried to convert the recipe to dual-nationality units. The strange amount for chocolate chips is because here you get 11 oz packages which say they are 2 cups. so the first time I used a whole one of those. The second time I had a 12 oz package, and just used 4 oz to melt and the remaining 8 oz unmelted. It still seemed like plenty. In the UK choc chips come in teeny tiny packages and you may balk at buying four for just one recipe, so just throw in as many as looks right to you.

4 oz / 1 stick soft butter

1/2 cup / 4 oz light brown sugar

1/4 cup / 2 oz granulated sugar

4 oz dark / semisweet chocolate, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg, cold from the fridge

1 cup / 5 oz plain flour

1/4 cup / 1 oz cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda / bicarb of soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups / 8-11 oz dark choc chips

Preheat oven to 325F / 160C.

Cream butter and sugars in a mixing bowl.

Add melted chocolate and mix in. Beat in vanilla and egg.

Mix in flour, cocoa, soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop out 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) mounds for large cookies, placing 2 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Or use 2 tbsp amounts for medium cookies. This should give you 12 and 24 respectively, if it's easier just to divide the mixture into the right number of cookies.

Bake 18 min for the large cookies or 12-15 min for the medium ones.

Cool on baking sheet for 4-5 min, then move to a rack.

Comments

One hundred churches

About the middle of January, I was walking to school one afternoon when it occurred to me that I must have visited quite a few churches on my explorations. I started counting them. But I quickly ran out of fingers, so when I got home I plotted them on Google Maps. Not only was the number much higher than I was expecting, it was also tantalisingly close to one hundred. Only a few dozen to go. So of course, every walk since then has had to include at least one church! Last Monday I visited my hundredth church: St John the Baptist, Dethick. It was a beautiful little 13-century building with an unusual tower - I was glad it had claimed the 100 spot. I haven't been inside every church. Sometimes they were locked; sometimes I was in a hurry and didn't try the door. St Leonard's Church in Alton had bellringers practicing, and I almost interrupted a funeral when I stuck my head through the door of St Mary's, Marston-on-Dove. A few, such as St Oswald's, Ashbourne, and St Wys...

Derwent Valley Heritage Way: Steep drops ahead

It's been a long time since I fitted that much up and down into an eight-mile walk! 740m of steep climbs and steps. My legs were not very happy with me the next day. Between Matlock and Cromford, the Derwent River runs through a deep valley, with Matlock Bath - a landlocked town which pretends to be a seaside resort - down at the bottom. The ridge of high ground used to run all the way round to Scarthin Rock, cutting off Cromford from the rest of the valley, until somebody blasted a hole through it to build the A6. Matlock Bath: pavilion and amusement park I started in Cromford and climbed over the ridge at Harp Edge, then followed a path along through the woods, with the ground dropping sharply away to my right. There were a few small caves among the trees. At Upperwood someone had thoughtfully provided a bench. I wasn't in need of a rest just yet, though. In fact, I was feeling so bouncy that I went down an entirely unnecessary flight of steps, instead of staying on the reaso...

The Churnet Way: a wonderful walk

The loop from Oakamoor to Froghall and back was one of the most enjoyable walks I've done in a long time. It had a bit of everything: woods, ponds, rivers and railways; steep climbs and sweeping views; an unusual church, an ex-industrial wharf, and, as a final bonus, car parks with toilets. Of course, the sunny weather helped too. I parked in Oakamoor and set off along a quiet lane called Stoney Dale. This is the route of the Churnet Way, which deviates away from the river for a couple of miles. After a while I turned right and climbed up through the woods on a gravelly path, then dropped down to the B5417. a spring in Oakamoor Crossing the road, I entered Hawksmoor Nature Reserve. It has some fine gateposts commemorating John Richard Beech Masefield, "a great naturalist". I found a photo of the opening of the gateway in 1933; unsurprisingly, the trees have grown a lot since then! A track took me down through the woods to East Wall Farm. Lovely view! Nice duck pond as ...

Martha's Marvellous Munchies

Search This Blog