Chewy Chocolate Cookies

This cookie recipe is a favorite of my boys.  The cookie doesn't look like much because it's small and on the flat side, but it's slightly crisp on the outside and the inside is soft and chewy.  Because of that, I used to call them brownie cookies.  I like to put one on my tongue and let it melt before chewing.  

I found this recipe at the bottom of an ad for Hershey's Cocoa and have been making these cookies for at least 15 years.  I just made a batch to take on our annual beach trip, and when my boys discovered them, they both exclaimed to everyone how much they love these cookies.  Needless to say, they all disappeared!

To begin, the butter must be softened to room temperature.  Whenever I forget to do this, I put one stick of butter at time in the microwave and run it on high for 5 seconds.    I wait a couple of minutes and run it again on high for 5 seconds.  I check it to see if it has a little "give" when I squeeze it.  If it does, I remove it from the microwave and put it in my mixer bowl.  If it doesn't, I give it another 5 seconds on high in the microwave.  Any more time than that, and the butter will begin to melt.  I then start the mixer with only the butter in the bowl.  As it gets broken up by the beater, it is able to soften more quickly.  I don't add the sugar until the butter alone is soft and creamy.  Another idea, which I haven't tried yet, is to grate the cold butter using a cheese grater; the smaller pieces of butter will warm up more quickly than the entire stick!  Once the butter is soft, I beat it together with the sugar until creamy.

Then, I add the eggs one at a time, beating until fully incorporated after each egg.  I always turn off the beater when adding each egg, just in case a small piece of the shell sneaks in so I can easily remove it.  Hint:  To check for the freshness of an egg, I drop the whole egg (still in the shell) in a glass of water.  If it sinks, it's fresh, but if it floats to the top, it's rotten and I throw it away. 

I add the vanilla and beat again until thoroughly mixed in.

In the meantime, in a medium bowl, I combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

I add this mixture gradually to the butter mixture in the mixing bowl.  It gets mixed in more easily if I add it a little at a time and it keeps me from getting a cloud of the flour mixture thrown back in my face!

This is a very soft cookie dough, which is a light shade of brown.

Because the dough is soft, it spreads quite a bit when baking, so I leave about 2 inches between each cookie.  The recipe says to drop the dough by teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheet, but I prefer to use my Pampered Chef small scoop.  I find it faster and the cookies are more round and uniform in size this way.  

Into the oven they go for 9 minutes.  The cookies may not appear done after that amount of time, but they really are.  If you leave them in any longer than that, they may not be soft and chewy.  The picture above shows how they puff while baking and the picture below shows how they flatten while cooling.  

Because they are so soft, they need to remain on the cookie sheet for about 1 minute before removing them to a cooling rack.  They will fall apart if you try to move them too soon.  By the way, a couple of months ago, I got a new range with a convection oven!  I am so excited, as I had my previous range for over 26 years!  When reading the manual about how to operate the convection oven feature, it was advised to use cookies sheets with low or no sides when baking cookies as they worked best.  I went shopping almost immediately and found these Calphalon 12" x 17" baking sheets, which are non-stick.  What an amazing product!  The non-stick feature works so well that as I was moving one cookie sheet full of cookies, I knocked it slightly and the cookies all started moving toward one end.  If these cookies weren't so soft, I probably would have been able to lift them directly off the cookie sheet with my fingers instead of using a spatula!

These yummy chocolate cookies are so addictive you can't eat just one!  Enjoy!

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

  

1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour

¾ cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Cream butter and sugar in large mixer bowl.  Add eggs and vanilla; blend well.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture gradually, blending well.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350°F for 9 minutes.  (Do not overbake.  Cookies will be soft.  They will puff during baking and flatten upon cooling.) Cool on cookie sheet until set, about 1 minute; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield:  Approximately 6 dozen