Not Single, Not Double But TRIPLE Chocolate Chip Cookies

On our family road trips across America, we would always make sure there was a coolbox in the back of the car stocked with Cheetos, Mountain Dew and Chips Ahoy cookies.

If you haven't tried Chips Ahoy, you must. 

Back in the 90s, they only had 1 flavour - now they have chewy, gooey and all sorts... but you will never beat the original. Like Sean Connery was to James Bond - Pierce, Roger and Daniel will never compare.

I was so sure I had a photo of me eating some Chips Ahoy lying around somewhere but it appears to have disappeared. Instead, I have a photo of me, aged 3, eating my hands (craving the Chips Ahoy!) somewhere in Florida.

My mum has her own chocolate chip cookie recipe which up until recently we've always used. There's just one problem... they're practically cakes! No offence to my mum, they've served us well over the past 22 years but I wanted my Chips Ahoy! After some experimenting and altering of her recipe (and adding rather too much chocolate to the bowl), I created my super chocolatey chocolate chip cookies - or as I call them, "Not single, not double but triple chocolate chip cookies".

Here is how I made them (sorry they're in ounces, mother is an imperialist):

Not single, not double but triple chocolate chip cookies

Ingredients:

6oz of dark chocolate (the higher the percentage of cocoa the better) – chopped into pieces

4oz of self-raising flour

1oz of cocoa powder

3oz of margarine

6oz of brown sugar (dark or light)

1 egg

2 tsp of vanilla extract

2oz of white chocolate chips (chopped up white chocolate – it’s cheaper)

2oz of milk chocolate (same as above – Galaxy chocolate is a good choice for this)

Cooking accessories:

2 mixing bowls

A sauce pan

A heatproof bowl

An electric mixer/ hand-blender (if you don’t own any of these, just use a mixing spoon)

A wooden/ mixing spoon

A tablespoon

3 baking trays (you can always alternative if you only have ½ or there isn’t enough space for 3 in the oven)

Greaseproof baking paper

A chopping board and kitchen knife (for the chocolate, if necessary)

A sieve

Cling film/ cellophane

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees

Cover the baking trays with greaseproof paper – add a bit of oil or butter to the top of the paper for extra greasing, if you wish

Melt the chocolate in the heatproof bowl, over a saucepan on low heat – stir continuously to avoid burning

Once melted, remove from heat and leave to cool

Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl – put to one side

In the other bowl, mix the margarine and sugar together with an electric mixer until it is light and creamy

Beat in the egg (please crack the egg in – shells won’t taste great in cookies) and vanilla extract with a wooden spoon

Fold in the flour mixture with the wooden spoon – flour will fly everywhere if you use the mixer. Fold until it is mixed

Pour in the melted chocolate and mix thoroughly

Fold in the chocolate chips and cover the bowl with cling film. Pop it in the fridge to chill for 1 hour

Whilst it’s chilling, why not clean up your mess and save yourself the hassle later... or even eat any leftover chocolate...

Once chilled, place tablespoons of the mixture on the covered baking trays. It’s best to get your hands dirty and flatten them into circles – half an inch in thickness is fine. Please wash your hands first, especially if you’ve been eating chocolate and washing dirty bowls.

Pop in the oven for 15- 20 minutes (to see if they’re cooked, pop a knife into the cookie and remove. If there is any raw dough on the knife, they'll need a bit longer). The longer you leave them in the oven, the crunchier they will get. If you, like me, prefer chewy cookies – 15 minutes should be sufficient.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave on the baking tray for 20 minutes – then transfer them to a cooking rack.

Enjoy with milk, ice cream, your friends, you family or better yet, yourself.

Make sure the cookies are stored in an airtight container for lasting freshness!