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.

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