triple chocolate chip cookies

Whenever I visit family, I almost always whip up a little something special, and that was especially true of parental visits.  My father, stepmother, and mother were not bakers, but they ALL had a sweet tooth - and they all liked chocolate.  While I can take one bite of a Reine de Saba and leave the rest,  I would guess it would last a day or two at the most, especially with my stepmother.

When she tasted the first cookie,  her eyes got very big as she looked at me, and then she said, "My god, you could start a business with these!", and then proceeded to eat four more.  And these are BIG cookies, averaging out at 4 inches each.

I never did start a business with them, though I made plenty of muffins for years for a local store - these cookies are less sturdy, and the ingredients can be expensive.  But I always remember her remark, every time I make them.

Today I halved the recipe, but forgot to write down the measurements, so I'll leave that to you to figure out.  If you don't have a drawer full of measuring cups, just fill your one cup measure to , say,  3/4ths, then measure out the amount in tablespoons, then halve it to get half the amount called for.  I thought that was pretty clever for 6 o'clock in the morning:)



Triple Chocolate Chip cookies

This makes about 18 large cookies.
Preheat oven to 325F.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or clean foil.

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
2 and 3/4ths cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Ghirardelli)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk chocolate chips (I used Toll House)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Toll House)

Cream butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs in mixer bowl .  Add the flour, cocoa, and baking soda and mix until smooth, then briefly mix in the chocolate chips.

Use a regular sized ice cream scoop (I use a spring-loaded one) place scoops of dough evenly spaced, 6 to a baking sheet.  The dough should be quite firm, and it was because the flour was cool and so was the kitchen.  If you make this during really hot weather, you can chill the dough briefly in the fridge to firm it up a little.  

Bake for 15 minutes, remove baking sheet to cool another 15 minutes before using a spatula to remove cookies to a cooling rack.  When they are warm, they are a little fragile.  

The sun is out and the snow is melting , a little, anyway -  enough to finally see the top of my birdbath emerge from a snowdrift.  Spring!