Soft Chocolate Chunk Cookies

My niece is over visiting, and we decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies. Conveniently, I had some dark, Rittersport chocolate that had melted out of shape and re-solidified that I thought I might use. Unfortunately, I had no brown sugar, but after surfing the web for a recipe using honey, I stumbled upon this recipe: http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/Honey-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-Recipe. I wanted a lovely cookie that would be slightly crisp on the outside while retaining a soft, chewy texture.

The original recipe makes 4 dozen cookies, but I had no need for that many so I halved some of the portions and altered the recipe slightly to my taste. You can use chocolate chips, but I prefer chopped pieces because the little chocolate flecks get incorporated into the batter.



MAKES 1 1/2 DOZEN COOKIES

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cups white sugar
2 tbsp. honey
1 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips, or chopped bittersweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 375º F.
In a small mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. (If you don’t have a sifter, just whisk through the dry ingredients with a fork or whisk)

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, honey, eggs, and vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly into the wet ingredient. A sticky dough should form. Stir in the chocolate.

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place onto cookie sheets (buttered, oiled, sprayed with non-stick spray or lined with aluminum foil/parchment paper) about 2 inches apart. Bake for 9-12 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets after 5 minutes. The cookies should be lightly browned around the edges.

The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.