I don’t about you, but throughout lockdown I’ve found myself drooling over enormous, melting, chocolate-oozing cookies.

Forget those flat-as-a-pancake, stale-the-next-day kind you find in supermarkets. Bakers, treat box makers, and home cooks have been outdoing themselves with their big, fat, indulgent creations. The best kind have a brownie-esque jacket of crust all the way around, revealing, when broken in two, a heart of molten, squidgy goodness.

It’s fair to say these are not for the dieters amongst us because there are two things that give the gooey cookie it’s ridiculously scrummy texture. Chiefly this involves a dizzying amount of sugar and butter going into the mix. Then there’s the technique of beating said sugar and butter for a long, long time – the magic trick that turns a plain, crumbly confection into something dreamy and soft.

This week I thought I’d share my version.

They definitely aren’t for every day consumption (I split them in half with my husband), but as an uplifting, chocolate-loaded treat to put a smile on your face – yep, they do the trick.

Take them up a notch by adding balls of frozen nut butter or hazelnut spread in the centres. If you’d prefer a lighter cookie, take out the cocoa and replace it with extra flour or custard powder plus 2tsps vanilla extract.

Maybe swap half the chocolate chips for Smarties, M&Ms, chunks of Ferrero Rocher, Mini Eggs –whatever your heart desires. Enjoy....in moderation!


Gooey, chewy American style double chocolate chip cookies

(makes 6-7)

Ingredients

115g unsalted butter, cut into 1cm cubes

100g dark brown sugar

60g caster sugar

225g dark chocolate chips – or a mix of dark, milk, white

115g self-raising flour, sifted

80g plain flour, sifted

50g cocoa powder, sifted

1/2tbsp baking powder

Large pinch bicarbonate of soda

1/2tsp sea salt

2 large eggs


Method

Prepare a shelf in the freezer so you can fit in a large plate or tray. Line a baking sheet or flat plate with greaseproof paper.

In a food mixer or processor blend the sugars and butter until really creamy. This could take up to 10 to 15 minutes but will help give you that crispy crust and chewy interior.

Add the chocolate chips and mix to combine fully. Now add the flours, cocoa powder, raising agents and salt, and combine to rubbly breadcrumbs.

Finally, break the eggs into a small bowl and mix with a fork. Add to the cookie dough and give one final blitz or mix to combine fully.

Weigh the mixture out into approximately 125g balls and place on your prepared plate or tray. Freeze for at least two hours or overnight.

When you’re ready to bake pre-heat the oven to 180C (fan) for 20 minutes. Prepare another tray and place 3-4 cookie balls on each of the two trays, giving plenty of room between each.

Pop the trays in the oven and bake for 18 minutes. Allow to cool, on the trays (they will break if you move them straight away) for 15 minutes. Best served warm.