Everyone Needs These Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Hiii theeere, thanks for stopping by. Today we're talking chocolate chip cookies. Every person, no matter how much or little time they spend in the kitchen, needs a few fail-safe, easypeasy, tried and tested methods for deliciousness; your perfect mashed potato, your favourite way to make porridge, maybe even just the things you do to make beans on toast perfectly suited to what you like so much about beans on toast (too much butter and just 'cooked to a mush' beans for me, FYI).

This is one of those recipes. Everyone needs a perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. Everyone needs a baking recipe to turn to when inspiration is lacking but 'bringing a dish' is required. Everyone needs a recipe for when time is short but homemade indulgence is required. This recipe is that, and that, and that.

With a crispy, crackling outside and just perfectly under-baked goo on the inside these are american stylee cookies which really feel more like dessert fodder than our British 'tea and biscuits' biscuits. But that is fiiiiiine with me. They are also, I think, the perfect treat to bring along to an 'event' that doesn't require the pomp and circumstance of a whole cake or any fancypants baking, but to which the addition of a tin of homemade goodness would be gratefully received.

So I'm off to make these to take along with me to a lazy night in at a friend's, it won't take me 2 ticks, they're easypeasy...in fact, they're so easy that I think I have time to recline for a little longer, yep, I've got enough time to catch up on Gilmore Girls...what more could you want from a biscuit. With Love and Cake.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm afraid I can't remember where I got this recipe from, I wrote it down a good while ago, but I think it may have been adapted from a recipe which got really famous after being published in the New York Times...I hope so because that makes me sound like I read such high brow publications- yes, lets say its from the NYT.

A few notes:

• This recipe makes A LOT of cookies, it even makes A LOT if you halve it. But it's SUCH good cookie dough that too much can be a good thing. It freezes well and can be defrosted and baked into more cookies. OOooor you can construct the ULTIMATE cookie dessert experience by serving a warm cookie with whipped cream and a splodge of raw dough. But do make sure you save a bit for a coming recipe which you. will. LOVE. 
• The cookies should come out of the oven still a little undercooked and soft, that's how you get the gooeyness. They'll harden up as they cool so don't worry that they seem too bendy straight from the oven.
• Of course it's up to you how big you make your cookies, I like a nice huge one as big as my hand almost, but just remember that the bigger the blobs of dough you put on your baking sheet, the more space between each one you'll need to allow for them to spread out.

Makes A LOT

You will need

A large baking sheet, lined

375g soft butter

333g soft brown sugar

250g caster sugar

1 splodge vanilla extract

2 eggs + 2 egg yolks

500g  flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

300g chocolate chips or chopped chocolate of your choice (I always use dark)

• Preheat your oven to 170°c.
• Cream the butter and both sugars together with an electric hand whisk or a good strong arm until light and creamy looking.
• Beat in the vanilla and all the eggs and yolks until well combined.
• Fold in the flour and bicarbonate of soda, followed by the chocolate.
• Transfer dessert spoonfuls of dough onto your baking sheet. you don't need to flatten them, they'll do that themselves in the oven. Just make sure you leave a good couple of inches between each blob for them to spread out.
• Bake and check after 12 minutes. They're ready when they're slightly darker in colour and the top is set but they're still soft in the centre.
• Leave to cool on the baking sheet for around 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely or, just devour while they're still warm.