1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup peanut butter

Combine flour, soda, and salt. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. In separate bowl mix egg and vanilla then gradually beat into butter mixture. Stir in peanut butter, blend thoroughly. Stir in dry ingredients. Chill30 minutes. Drop onto baking sheet and smash with fork. Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes. Don’t over-bake or they won’t be soft and chewy.

2 cups (10oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 1/2oz) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
16 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips)
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. instant coffee or espresso powder
10 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 1/2 cups packed (10.5oz) light brown sugar
1/2 cup (3.5oz) granulated sugar
12-16 oz assortment of milk, semisweet and white chocolate chips

You will also need to have Parchment paper on hand to achieve the best results with these cookies.

Important!
Resist the urge to bake the cookies longer than indicated; they may appear under baked at first but will firm up as they cool.

1. Sift together flour, cocoa,  baking powder and salt and set aside.

2. Melt the 16oz chocolate in the microwave or over a pan of almost simmering water. If using the microwave, heat 30seconds at a time stirring in between until smooth. In a small bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla lightly with a fork, sprinkle the coffee powder over to dissolve, and set aside.

3. Beat the butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 seconds. Beat in the sugars until combined, about 45 seconds; the mixture will look granular. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the egg mixture until incorporated, about 45 seconds. Add the melted chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined, about 40 seconds. Scrape the bowl with rubber spatula. With the mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overbeat. Add assorted chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temp until the consistency is scoop-able and fudge-like, about 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets with a 1 3/4 – inch ice cream scoop, spacing the moungs of dough about 1 1/2 inches apart.

5. Bake until the edges of the cookies have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets about 10 minutes, slide the parchment with cookies onto wire racks, and cool to room temp. Cover cooled baking sheets with a new piece of parchment paper and scoop remaining dough onto sheets, bake, and cool as directed.

These cookies are awesome fresh from the oven but they also will last several days and still be soft and chewy. It makes a rather large batch so I typically bake some up, then make the rest into balls and freeze them for future use. You can put them directly from the freezer onto parchment-lined baking sheets and let sit at room temp for a little while (at least while the oven pre-heats). Bake according to directions, it will take a minute or two longer depending on how cool the dough was before going into the oven but just look for the same thing as with the fresh cookies, set edges but soft in the middle.

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat brown sugar, butter and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, morsels and nuts; mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies or 12 to 13 minutes for crispy cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 1 minute; remove to wire racks to cool completely.