Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

As I have been saying goodbye to my internship for the past seven months this week, me and another colleague have been throwing a goodbye after-work get-together with different types of sweet and salty snacks, wine and beer. This form of get-together is really typical for Switzerland and called "Apéro" which is a short form of aperitif, I guess. I didn't know it until I moved here ten years ago but now I really enjoy it.

I was responsible for all sweets and - hey - what better excuse could I get to try something new and mix it with all the beloved classics. 

As you all might know from different previous posts, I love a good chocolate chip cookie. It has to be a little crispy, soft and chewy on the inside and with tons of chocolate chips in it. 
I tried a new recipe from Nigella Lawson's website and these cookies were divine. They were the first thing to be gone, btw... 
This is the link: http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/chocolate-chip-cookies

Here's the recipe:

150g (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
125g (2/3 cup) soft brown sugar
100g (1/2 cup) caster or superfine sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg (straight from the fridge)
1 egg-yolk (straight from the fridge)
300g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
326g (11 1/2oz) chocolate chips or dark chocolate

1) If you're using dark chocolate chips, place them in a bowl and put in the freezer while you're preparing the dough. If using chocolate, chop the chocolate into pieces any size you like, then put in the freezer, as well.

2) Melt the butter in a small saucepan, then let it cool a bit. Put the brown and white sugars into a bowl add the vanilla extract and butter and beat for about 6 minutes until a little lighter.

3) Add the egg and egg-yolk and beat further until the mixture is creamy.

4) Slowly mix in the flour and bicarb until everything is just combined. Then fold in the chocolate chips.

5) Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. 

6) Place on tablespoon of dough onto the baking tray leaving a little room to spread. I love to use an ice-cream scoop for this - it makes things so much easier and ours happens to be one tablespoon exactly.

7) Bake for 9-10 minutes in the oven, until the edges are lightly set. Don't be afraid - the cookies will look undercooked, but they'll continue cooking on the tray once out of the oven. 

8) Cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

9) Repeat steps 6-8 until you've used all dough.

Yield: 35 cookies
Active preparation time: 20 minutes
Total preparation time: 40 minutes

Here's how mine look:

I find that chopping your own chocolate instead of using chocolate chips makes the cookies look almost like a Pollock painting with their splatters. These cookies were moist, they dense but with a little crumb left and most of all - there was plenty of chocolate in them! I loved this recipe as it was super easy.

There's no better smell than a kitchen smelling from freshly baked cookies. Soon happy weekend baking!

Have fun trying!