Chocolate Chocolate Cookies

Many years ago, circa 2004, when I got my first apartment during my sophomore year of college, I was convinced there were certain things that I needed to make it feel complete. Among these were the basics: furniture, dishes, etc. And then there were the "fun" items. To this day, the "fun" item that stands out the most is a cookbook I found while browsing books at Goodwill. It was in near perfect condition and entirely devoted to one of my favorite things in the world: cookies! There's no way I wasn't buying it. 

If there's one thing I love in a recipe, it's a nice, colorful picture. I think that's why I was sucked into Pinterest so quickly...all the pictures mesmerize me! 

Unfortunately, since acquiring this book 8 years ago, I have maybe made one recipe out of it. Yes, you heard me correctly. I've made one out of 1,000 cookie recipes. The poor book has mostly been moved from kitchen to kitchen, and thousands of miles across the country but has yet to truly fulfill its life's purpose. Today, I took a step towards fixing that.

I'm off to Oklahoma next week for Labor Day weekend and had considered playing a little game with myself until then--no desserts. That game lasted, as it typically does, an incredibly short amount of time (until about 4:00 this afternoon). I was simply not meant to go dessert free. And so, I broke out my long-neglected cookie cookbook and began to scout.

As with most of my recipes, the one I settled on was driven by my current desire for double chocolate chip cookies. I've never attempted these and was hoping against hope that I could get them to rise to the level of the one that I often get from one of my favorite bakeries. For my first time out of the gate with these, I think I came pretty close! 

White Chocolate Biggies

[Adapted from The Great American Cookie Cookbook]

Yummy, yummy

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder [I'm obsessed with Hershey's Special Dark]
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 package (10 ounces) white chocolate chips

The picture that caught my eye

Ready to go in the oven

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper
2. Beat butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl; blend into butter mixture until smooth. Stir in white chocolate chips
3. Drop dough by 1/3 cupfuls onto prepared cookie sheets, spacing about 4 inches apart. Press each cookie to flatten slightly
4. Bake 12-14 minutes or until firm in center. Cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet, then remove to wire racks to cool completely