Choc o Lot of Gooey Goodness Cookies

i.e. Chocolate Chip Cookies
by Laura

Well, you might have noticed that the test nest sisters are kind of on a sweet tooth streak here, but it's impossible not to be when you're looking at mouth-watering pictures of delicious treats.   We don't have to see pictures of cakes and cookies, though, to get our sugar radar to sky rocket.  In fact, it does that without any kind of trigger.  Why, you ask?  Well, the answer is, Jacque, our mother.  We were brought up having dessert after every meal and cookies for after school snacks.  Don't get me wrong, I loved it and frankly I still do, but my waistline does pay the price a bit.  But, really, it's worth it for the taste of a warm gooey chocolate chip cookie (or two) right out of the oven.

The following cookie recipe is amazing and guess where I found it?  My Baking Addiction.  That's right, the blog with absurdly delicious recipes including a few we've done on the test nest already, like s'more cookies.  If you've never been a sweets lover, just browse this blog and you'll become one or if you are, go and be amazed and then get baking.

 To begin, get out the butter, baby!  You know a cookie is always better with butter.  The recipe actually called for two sticks of cold butter.  I loved that - no need to wait for softening.

Next I creamed the butter, sugar and vanilla.

 Look at that mixing action...

 Eggs and more going into the mix.

 Perfectly formed cookies.  The recipe is actually called big chocolate chip cookies, but I made them smaller and they turned out just fine. 

Finished product.  How fantastic do those look?  They were just melt in your mouth delicious.  I had four to begin with and then two more later.  Ummm, whoops. So good.

Check out the recipe:

Big Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Parsley, Sage, Desserts & Line Drives by: Jamie of My Baking Addition

Ingredients
2 sticks cold and cubed unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon table or fine sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups good quality semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
add in 1 cup of walnuts if you fancy them

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
1. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle, cream together butter and sugars until well blended and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mix in vanilla and beat until well incorporated.
2. Add flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips/chunks and nuts.
3. Transfer dough to clean work surface and gently mix dough by hand to ensure even distribution of ingredients.
4. Weigh out the dough into 4 ounce portions and gently roll into a ball. (I got ten 4 ounce cookies out of this dough).
4. Place each on sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake in the preheated oven 15-20 minutes depending on how gooey and rawish you like the interior, until very lightly browned, taking care not to overbake. I baked mine for 16 minutes, which seemed to be perfect in my oven.
5. Let cool on rack and store what you don’t immediately eat in an airtight container.

Notes:
-These are best eaten on the day they are made (ESPECIALLY warm out of the oven – like most chocolate chip cookies).
-To freshen them after a few days (if they last that long), give them a quick nuke in the microwave for 5-10 seconds.
- I did not attempt to make these smaller than 4 ounces. I am sure they will be equally as amazing, you’ll just have to play with the baking time.