Eats: Jumbo Brownie Cookies

Hello! So let's see - I have a daughter at college who's craving chocolate, a chocoholic husband, and a crew working on our house that I want to keep happy. What can I bake to satisfy all those taste buds? 

Jumbo Brownie Cookies, that's what! Here's the recipe:

Jumbo Brownie Cookies (adapted from a Taste of Home recipe submitted by Rebecca Cababa of Las Vegas, NV)

2 2/3 cups (16 ounces) chocolate chips
1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, cubed
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant coffee powder, optional
2/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package (11 1/2 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks

1. In large saucepan, melt chocolate chips and butter over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat; cool slightly. 

2. In small bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla, and (if desired) instant coffee powder until blended. Whisk into chocolate mixture. In another small bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt; add to chocolate mixture, stirring well. Fold in chocolate chunks. 

3. Drop by 1/4 cupfuls 3 inches apart onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes or until set. Cool on pans for 1-2 minutes. Remove cookies to wire racks to cool. Yield: about 1 1/2 dozen.

Notes: the recipe actually calls for bittersweet chocolate chips, and the optional "instant coffee" is actually supposed to be instant espresso powder. I chose to use the less intense-tasting semisweet chocolate chips and instant coffee powder to better suit the variety of people I would be sharing the cookies with. And I used just one teaspoon, not two, of the instant coffee powder. 

I happened to have a bag of the specified semisweet chocolate chunks on hand, but if I hadn't, I would have just used regular chocolate chips. I'm sure any other flavor of baking chips would have been fine tossed in - or leave them out if you think the recipe is sweet enough already! 

The dough is pretty soft, so do follow the 3-inch spacing mentioned in the recipe. The cookies spread a bit. I made them the specified size, but I'd bet they'd be fine smaller as well. May need to adjust baking time downward a bit if you opt for a smaller size.

Here's how they turned out:

The picture doesn't do this cookie justice - it tastes even better than it looks! These are very rich, which is why I suggested a smaller size as a possibility. 

The recipe yield is about 1 1/2 dozen (I got 19), but this is an example of a little bit going a long way. Between shipping a package of the cookies off to our daughter, two days of work crew breaks, and two days of dessert for my husband and myself, there was enough to go around and still have 1 1/2 cookies left for my husband and myself for tonight's after-dinner dessert. (I'll be nice and let him have the whole cookie). These are really good! No wonder one of the workmen requested a copy of the recipe.

In retrospect, they may have not been the best choice to mail off to our daughter, as these cookies are on the soft side. I wrapped each one individually in plastic wrap before packing them in the shipping box. They may arrive a little mushed up, but I have a feeling she won't complain. 

I highly recommend these making these as a treat for the chocoholics in your life - especially if that means you! I can't see any reason why these wouldn't freeze well (individually wrapped and then put into freezer bags or containers) if you don't have chocolate-loving children, spouses or work crews around to help you eat them. Enjoy!