Jessy Bakes

Chocolate is one of my most favorite indulgences.  This big ol’ bar of dark chocolate is from Trader Joe’s and I LOVE it!  It’s 17.6 ounces of joy.  The whole thing costs around $4 and is enough to replace the chips in 4 batches of cookies for me.  I like my cookies FULL of chocolatey goodness though.  So, if you use one row of chocolate squares per batch it could actually last you 8 batches.  Either way, that’s cheaper then a bag of chocolate chips.  These bars come in milk chocolate too.

Anyhoo, I was craving chocolate big time the passed couple of weeks and decided to throw together a batch of my favorite chocolate chippers.  Wait!  Hadn’t I just purchased the above-mentioned gargantuan bar of goodness?  Why not beat the living daylights out of a piece of that to add some zing to my cookies?  More chocolate?  Well ~chuckle~ ~chuckle~  of COURSE I could find a way to add MORE chocolate!  And I did:

Jessy’s Choc-A-LOT Cookies ~ Makes 18~

3/4 c. flour

1/4c + 1/8c cocoa powder (I use Hershey’s)  *for the 1/8 c. I just eyeball about halfway up the 1/4c. cup*

1/2tsp. soda

1/2tsp. salt

1/2c (1stick) butter, softened (or just cut the cold stuff into small squares and nuke for about 13 seconds)

1/4c + 1/8c sugar

1/4c + 1/8c brown sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 large egg

desired amount of chocolate chips or pulverized chocolate bar of choice

~PREHEAT OVEN 375 DEGREES~

1. In a small bowl use a whisk to combine flour, cocoa, soda and salt.

2. In a separate bowl beat together sugars and butter.

3. Add egg and vanilla and beat together, scraping down sides.

4. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

5. Toss in chocolate chips or chunks and mix with a spoon or spatula until evenly distributed (a chocolate chunkless cookie is a sad sad thing).  *To break up my chocolate squares into chunks I place them in a plastic baggie and pound them into submission with the “knife sharpener” that came with my knife set.  It’s metal and heavy.  Works!*

6. Drop onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

7. Bake 9 – 11 minutes.  10 minutes of perfect in my oven!

I usually bake one dozen and drop the remaining dough onto a separate cookie sheet, placing it in the freezer until the balls of dough are firm.  Then I put them in a plastic freezer bag.  That way I can have a couple of freshly baked cookies on a whim without the prep and dishes.

nnn nnn n nnn?  Oh excuse me… talking with my mouth full…  I mean, need I say more?