Chocolate (Chip) Chunk Cookies

Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

As Summer rolls in, there are lot of potlucks and picnics planned in the calendar. And with graduation parties, school picnics and summer concerts and events, there are plenty of opportunities to try out some new recipes, be it for yourself, or to entertain someone else. My daughter’s pre-school class had a parents-kids conference where they asked us to bring tidbits and munchies from home. Both me and my daughter have a very heavy sweet tooth, so it was no surprise when she asked me to bake cookies for the meet-up, along with some sandwiches. So I reverted back to a recipe which takes an old-time favorite, chocolate chip cookies, and gives a spin to it. Read on to know why this isn’t just a delicious recipe, but its so simple too!

You must have eaten a lot of chocolate chip cookies, but for an even better and satisfying chocolate experience, go bold and opt for a Chocolate Chunk Cookie instead. The difference, a lot more chocolate flavor that lasts much longer than other cookies. Seriously, I am not kidding. These scrumptious cookies [photo by Deborah Ory via Woman’s Day] are baked using Devil’s Food cake mix and semi-sweet chocolate chunks, so you can expect them to be as delicious as chocolate cake, just baked in a crunchy, chewy, gooey cookie form. If that doesn’t make your mouth water, try adding a drizzle of white chocolate on the top, and you’ll wish you didn’t have to share these babies with anyone else!

Using a ready-made cake mix has a lot of advantages; it guarantees a certain level of competence while baking as you don’t need to rely heavily on accurate measurements. You could throw in white chocolate chunks, or even go for some pecans, butterscotch chips, or maybe macadamia nuts for a flavor variation. Feel free to customize them any way you like, just make sure you maintain the dry-to-wet ingredient ratio correctly. I used some of my favorite dark chocolate with 70% cocoa – it balances the sweetness of the cookie with a gentle bitterness that comes naturally to chocolate. But as I said, you can use anything you like.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
1 box (18.25 oz) devil’s food cake mix
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1/4 cup water
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (9 oz) semisweet chocolate chunks
1/4 cup white chocolate baking chips

Method
Heat oven to 350°F. Line your baking sheet with a nonstick foil.

Beat the cake mix, butter, water, egg and vanilla in a medium bowl with mixer on medium speed for 1 minute or until well-blended. Stir in the chocolate chunks at the end and incorporate.

Drop heaping tablespoons dough about 3 inches apart on the baking sheet.

Bake the cookies for about 12 to 14 minutes until puffed and set (cookies will sink when cool). Remove from Oven and allow to cool on pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the white chocolate drizzle, put the white chocolate chips in a small zip-top bag; microwave on high, kneading bag every 10 seconds, until chips are melted. Snip a tip off a corner of the bag and drizzle chocolate on the cookies. Let it set completely before serving.

These Chocolate Chunk Cookies can be stored in an airtight box, layered with wax paper at room temperature for 3-5 days.

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