Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

After the lovely al fresco lunch last week, I thought that the usual clear blue skies and sunny winter days of the Costa del Sol would be back but instead, we've had another week of relentless rain.  Yesterday afternoon was one of the coldest days of the year.  I was stuck at home the rest of the day after a morning trip to the dentist and suddenly had a chocolate craving.  Flipping through several cookbooks, I started to look for a really simple recipe to sate my appetite and found it  - totally chocolate chocolate chip cookies from Nigella Lawson's Nigella Express.  I whipped up a batch, baked a few and froze the rest.  In less than half an hour, the cookies were ready.  I took a few of them with me and sat in the living room watching the rain fall as I took a bite of the freshly-baked chewy and chocolaty cookie - perfect with my afternoon espresso and an excellent way to spend a rainy afternoon at home.  The skies may be gray but that little treat really made my day.

______________________________________________________

Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

(from Nigella Express)

• 125 gr. dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids
• 150 gr. flour
• 30 gr. cocoa, sieved
• 1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 125 gr. soft butter
• 75 gr. light brown sugar
• 50 gr. white sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 egg, cold from the fridge
• 350 gr. (2 bags) smei-sweet chocolate morsels or dark chocolate chips 

• Preheat the oven to 170C/ gas mark 3.  Melt the 125 gr. dark chocolate either in the microwave or in a heatproof dish over a pan of simmering water.
• Put the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl.
• Cream the butter and sugars in another bowl.  Add the melted chocolate and mix together.
• beat in the vanilla extract and cold egg, and then mix in the dry ingredients.  Finally stir in the chocolate morsels or chips.
• Scoop out 12 equal-sized mounds - an ice cream scoop and a platte knife are the best tools for the job - and place on a lined baking sheet about 6 cm. apart.  Do not flatten them.
• Cook for 18 minutes, testing with a cake tester to make sure it comes out semi-clean and not wet with cake batter.  If you pierce a chocolate chip, try again.
• Leave to cool slightly on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to harden as they cool. 

My notes:

I used only 200 grams and mixed both dark and milk chocolate chips. 

I also ran out of unsalted butter so I used salted butter instead and omitted the salt.

I made 18 smaller scoops instead of the 12 large that the recipe indicated.  I baked 9 and froze the rest for another day.