Extra chocolatey chocolate cookie with chocolate chips

Did I mention you will need chocolate for this recipe?
An explosion of deliciousness, Nigella really nails it when it comes to making heavenly food out of simple ingredients! The original recipe is called "Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies" from Nigella Express, p.190-191 but after eating it, I renamed it...

I was craving something sweet last night and I didn't even have a tub of ice cream to help me. Nigella came to my rescue!

I used high quality chocolate and butter, a really good vanilla extract and the result was incredible!

It's very rich but in a good way! It's not too sweet, so you can actually taste the cocoa and the chocolate and the cookie has a great soft texture without being chewy or greasy like knock off cookies from bakeries and big chain coffee shops.

Rethink cookies! These are grown up ones but I'm sure kids will be delighted as well. Pairs perfectly with a nice cup of coffee or a tall glass of ice cold milk!

The original recipe calls for 2 cups of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips but I split that amount in half and added a cup of walnuts. My next batch will actually be 2/3 cup of dark chocolate + 2/3 cup white chocolate + 2/3 cup chopped almonds or walnuts. For extra chocolate, use all 3 kinds of chocolate chips/morsels only, instead: dark, milk and white. Oh! So many possibilities!

4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened butter, unsalted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, cold
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark chocolate chips or morsels
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Melt the 4oz of chocolate in a measuring cup or small bowl. Set aside.
Cream the butter with the vanilla and the 2 sugars. Add the egg and melted chocolate.
In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients (salt, flour, baking soda and cocoa powder).
Mix the dry ingredients in the cream and finally, add the chocolate chips and/or walnuts.

With an ice cream scoop, scoop out the dough and place on a lined baking sheet (I used wax paper) about 2 1/2 " apart. Do not flatten them.

Bake for approximately 20-22 minutes, testing with a knife or tester until it comes out partially clean. Watch not to pierce a chocolate chip. Let it cool in the baking sheet for approximately 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. They're ready to be savoured at this stage!

Notes

- Let it cook for an extra couple of minutes if you prefer crunchy cookies. Not sure it's the best choice for this batter, but it's a matter of taste!

- Nigella suggests forming the cookies with the ice cream scoop and freezing half of them in case you only need a small batch (as it would be difficult to make half of this recipe when it only calls for 1 egg!). Then, when she needs it, she simply takes the formed cookies out of the freezer to thaw and bake with no effort.

- The book says this recipe yelds 12 cookies. I only got 10 so that's why I recommend cooking for 20-22 minutes. If you do get 12, cooking time is around 18 minutes. It will depend on the size of your ice cream scoop and how much you fill it.

Happy baking and happier eating!