Recipe: Chocolate Chunk Cookies

You really can't get much better than a huge batch of freshly baked cookies, can you? I amalgamated a couple of different recipes recently to make these amazingly chocolately, but not too sickly, cookies which have been keeping me supplied with afternoon treats and midnight snacks for the last couple of weeks. I love chocolate (especially Dairy Milk, which is what I used for this recipe), but I'm not too keen on chocolate flavoured things, so I kept the actual cookie dough lightly vanilla flavoured to balance it out. They are amazing straight from the oven when the chocolate is still all gooey and melted, but they're just as good saved in the cupboard to enjoy later on too.

You Will Need (makes approx 24 cookies):
150g caster sugar
150g soft brown sugar
200g butter
275g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla extract
400g milk chocolate

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars.
2. Add the egg, followed by the flour and baking powder. Mix well.
3. Add in the vanilla extract. The mixture should start to come together into a dough, but if it's a bit dry and crumbly just add a tiny splash of milk.
4. Break up the chocolate into medium-sized chunks. I used two Dairy Milk bars; the first I broke up just using the squares on the bar, and the second I chopped up a little bit smaller using a sharp knife. Add the chocolate to the bowl and mix well to combine it with the dough.
5. Cover a baking tray with tin foil and roll out small balls of the dough. Unless you have a giant oven (of which I am well jel), you'll probably need to do it in batches - I did 6 cookies at a time.
6. Bake the first batch for 10-12 minutes, and remove from the oven once the edges start to turn golden brown. The cookies will need around another 20 minutes to set properly, so lift the foil off the baking tray and place on a flat surface to continue cooling.
7. Put a fresh piece of foil on the baking tray and repeat the process until all the mixture is used up.
8. Eat them warm straight out of the oven, or leave to cool and store in an airtight container.

Yum! What's your favourite flavour of cookie?

Gillian x