Winterly Chocolate Cookies

This is the cookie recipe, I´ll be sharing with my grandchildren-one day.

I fell in love with the richness of the chocolate and the funny "chewieness", the perfect size and amount of sweetness..Never felt the need for a dark-chocolate cookie in the morning more than today. I was craving to eat them with my cup of English Breakfast tea and reminisce about all of what had happened in 2010.

Nevertheless, I have to admit that I did not expect such a good result. It was still dark outside, I was still in my PJ and my mum wasn´t at home to look over my shoulder as usual.

I think I came up with the recipe trying to remember the one from my german dr.oetker cookbook which seems to have gotten lost in my messy room and mixed it with the easiest Martha Stewart instructions to a well done dark chocolate cookie.

First I started looking for dark chocolate chunks in the kitchen then I remembered the chocolate sticks I got for chrismas from the bookstore, I work at on fridays and saturdays.

Need to confess that the mixture of good, very good quality dark chocolate and whole milk chocolate did all the work in creating that delicious taste and smell...i think.

Here are the ingredients:

120g chocolate (40g whole milk chocolate (55%), 80g dark chocolate (65%-75%)

55g butter, unsalted

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup cocoa powder (from "Balzac": dark chocolate powder)

1 cup sugar

1 free-range egg,

and vanilla extract.

My very own first cookie recipe:

1. Melt the chocolate over boiling water in a small bowl but try to avoid that the hot simmering water touches the surface. I tend to use a bowl that is made of glass to melt chocolate because I can easily watch the process.

Before it melted completely, I added 55g of butter into the bowl and started stirring it with a rubber spatula. When combined and melted (but not burned) I take the chocolate outside on our balcony table.

2.Now I level half a cup of flour, 1/4 cup of cocoa,1/4 teaspoon baking soda, -powder and salt and combine them again by using a sifter .

3.The kitchen aid starts to beat one egg.To this I add 1 cup of white sugar (because the cocoa powder i used was already sweetend).

Then I added vanilla extract, slowly pour in the semi-hot chocolate mixture and finally the dry ingredients (all at low speed).

Using a half of a tablespoon I divided the mixture up, roll it quickly with the palm of my hands and placed them on the baking sheet, one inch apart from each other.

If you´re up for it add confectioner´s sugar to decorate and sweeten.

4.Bake them for 15 minutes at 160° C/325° F and let them cool completely afterwards.

Secret No 1: the cookies taste even better while hot.

In the end I was standing in front of the window, dipping the delicious cookie in my tea, watching the kitchen clock in a copied John Betjeman position (head up, one hand in my pocket) and started to bring old memories into my mind.

I hope you had a nice christmas and a happy new year.