I have always been a bit envious of people who do not have a sweet tooth. There are folks in this world who are not dessert people. I am not one of those people. I not only bake frequently, I taste test at every step.

I know you’re thinking “even raw cookie dough”? Yes. That was my entire childhood. And I survived. So, why mess with a good thing?

What I truly love, though, is the art of baking. Mixing. Creating. And if I’m being honest, a tiny portion of my self-esteem may be tied to how people react to what comes out of my oven. I love when others love my food. I’m the birthday baker. The cookie neighbor. The mom whose kiddos can smell chocolate from a mile away.

In this case, there is lots and lots and lots of chocolate. Perhaps the most chocolate I have ever crammed into one recipe, in all fairness. Which is saying something.

As with most cookie recipes, these are a breeze to whip together. Start with your standard 350 degree preheat on your oven.

This recipe needs a full cup of butter, but one stick will be melted, and one room temperature soft. Stir bitter or unsweetened chocolate in with the melted butter until smooth.

The second stick of butter should be softened but not melted. Cream it together with the granulated sugar for a couple of minutes. At this stage, the mixture will still look grainy. There’s more sugar than butter here, so it won’t fully smooth out yet

Once you slowly blend in the melted chocolate mixture, everything changes. Beat it for another few minutes until it becomes light and fluffy. When ready, the texture should look almost like frosting. At this point, add the eggs and vanilla until fully incorporated.

double chocolate cookie dough scooped onto sheet

In a separate bowl blend together your dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Toss them lightly with a fork to break up any clumps that might be there. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients on a low speed with your mixer.

When your batter comes together completely, remove the bowl from the mixer and add your chocolate chips in by hand with a spatula or wooden spoon. You don’t want to overmix the batter at this point, you just want the chips dispersed evenly throughout. Place the bowl in your refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to chill.

Prepare 1-2 cookie sheets (depending on the size of your oven) with parchment paper. When the batter has had time to cool, scoop tablespoon size portions of batter onto the prepared cookie sheets.

These will take approximately 12-15 minutes to bake. They’re done when the outside edge of the cookies are set and the middle is still soft.

Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheets for just a few minutes after removing them from the oven. This keeps the edges nice and crisp but allows the middle to remain gooey. According to my husband, these cookies should then be served with a mandatory glass of milk, but we’ll leave that up to you.