Ingredients

• 125g/4oz dark chocolate
• 150g/5¼oz plain flour
• 30g/1oz cocoa
• sifted
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 125g/4oz unsalted butter
• softened
• 75g/2½oz light brown sugar
• 50g/2oz caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 free-range egg
• cold from the fridge
• 350g/12¼oz dark chocolate chips

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.
• Break the 125g/4oz dark chocolate into pieces and place into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Heat
• stirring occasionally
• until melted.
• Place the flour
• cocoa
• bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl and mix well.
• In another bowl
• cream the butter and two sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and stir well.
• Beat in the vanilla extract and crack in the egg
• then mix in the dry ingredients. Finally stir in the chocolate chips.
• Scoop out 12 equal portions of the mixture - an ice cream scoop and a palette knife are the best tools for the job - and place onto a lined baking sheet about 6cm/2½in apart. Do not flatten them.
• Transfer to the oven and bake for 18 minutes
• then test with a skewer - it should come out semi-clean and not wet with batter. If you pierce a chocolate chip
• try again.
• Leave the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes
• then transfer them to a cooling rack to harden as they cool.