The Browniest Cookies

Alert to chocolate lovers: I think you’re gonna like these! Three kinds of chocolate make these a dream come true: bittersweet chocolate is melted with the butter, then cocoa is added, and of course a healthy amount of dark chocolate chips. You can bake them so they are completely cooked through, or you can remove them from the oven a little bit earlier for a fudgier centre. I think my oven bakes a little fast, so I had them in the oven for 11 minutes and they were baked all the way through; next time I would pull them out a little earlier so they are still soft in the middle. I love a fudgey brownie cookie!

The recipe is from smittenkitchen.com. The only thing I changed was to add sea salt to the top, and my testers (otherwise known as friends I was having a beach barbecue with) commented on how the salt really made it a special cookie. Er, brownie.

It’s a really simple and quick recipe, starting with melting the butter and chocolate, then mixing everything else in. But notice that the batter needs to sit in the fridge for half an hour before scooping and baking.

What you need:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 4 ounces (115 grams) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup dark or light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli brand) (more than 2/3 cup is even better!!)
• sea salt for sprinkling on top

What you do:

1. Melt the butter and the unsweetened chocolate together in a double-boiler until the chocolate is almost melted. Take it off the heat and continue stirring until the chocolate has melted.
2. Whisk the sugars into the melted butter and chocolate. Now whisk in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla.
3. Sift the cocoa baking soda, and flour into the bowl with, then add the salt; stir these together until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir until combined.
4. Place the bowl in the fridge for about 30 minutes, or up to a few days. If you only refrigerate for  30 minutes you can bake them right away. If the batter is in the fridge longer than 30 minutes it becomes difficult to scoop, so you can let it warm up a little before you start scooping.
5. Preheat the oven to 350F and line baking pans with parchment paper. Scoop the batter into 2 tablespoon-sized mounds – I use an ice-cream scoop for perfect mounds. Place them on the baking sheets, leaving a bit of room for them to spread.
6. Bake for about 11 minutes.
7. Let the cookies set on the baking sheet for a few minutes after removing from the oven so they don’t fall apart. I recommend eating at least one while they are still warm!