Meet me, my oven, and chocolate cookies

So, this blog came into existence. right. now.

It came into existence as was sitting at my desk, a half eaten bowl of chia yogurt to one side and a jasmine tea on the other. It came into existence as i surfed the internet or to be more specific, food52.com and the bonapetit website. Waves of perfectly french omelettes and pear maple tarte tatin wash over me and yes, I am surfing the internet. Get it? For me, food52.com is somewhat of a website for, as there is no other way to put it, food porn. Yikes, I actually said it. It was actually my uncle who blurted that out as we all watched the movie Chef and the main character made a grilled cheese with probably about a cup of butter until my whole family was practically drooling. My mom rolled her eyes. So blame him for the crass phrase, not me. My taste in vocabulary is, at least in my mind, slightly more refined. Get it? Taste?
I'll stop making bad puns, if they even qualify as puns..

I feel guilty somewhat also for my procrastination. There is an open history textbook right next to me. I'm supposed to be memorizing the peace treaties after the first world war, but my mind keeps getting drawn away into more tasty and creative parts of my brain. I would call myself a very good procrastinator. I procrastinate in a multitude of ways. I paint my nails, watch romantic comedies on my laptop, and even online shop, but there has to be a strong correlation between the amount of times I find myself waist-deep in butter and flour and sugar when i have a huge assignment due. So that's a reason to bake. That, and hey, I get hungry. 

I feel the need to tell you from where i am writing. I live in Mbabane, Swaziland. Swaziland is a pretty small country in Southern Africa. Not South Africa, Southern Africa. We share borders with South Africa and Mozambique. Swaziland is very far, very south, and very on the opposite side of the equator than where i grew up in Los Angeles, California. We mostly have everything you can get in California, ingredients wise, plus some special ones unique to this part of the world. And our yogurt is so so so much better. So yea, Swaziland. 

Because I had a huge bowl of full fat yogurt for breakfast, Im going to now make low-fat cookies. That makes sense..right?

This recipe is adapted from the lovely website of Orangette

She makes amazing things including some waffles I'll post soon :)

These cookies are really easy and require things you really should have in your pantry. If you don't, shame on you. Get them now. 

Last thing, I promise, before we get to chocolate cookie baking, is that I am an extremely forgetful person. Just yesterday, I lost my little brother's jacket. Sorry Louis. Anyways..I can NEVER remember to leave butter out for cookies. Also, I am impatient. I just want cookies when i want cookies and waiting for butter to soften is torture. When its absolutely necessary, I speed up the process and use the microwave, but these cookies are so good as to not even require such an annoying step. You just have to melt the butter. *angels singing*

Chewy Cocoa Cookies with Chocolate Chips

or how i would have named them, 

 Portable Circular Brownie Double Chocolate Cookies :)

Half way through i put some pecans on top and they actually made them really good as well as making them look a little fancier :). Because these cookies are so similar to brownies, i think adding some chopped walnuts would also add immensely. Or some chopped caramel. Or anything really..

Ingredients 

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

4 Tbsp. (½ stick) unsalted butter (my butter doesnt come like American butter *gasp*) It comes in a giant block like this*

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar (from what i remember, my light brown sugar is more like the rough raw cane sugar you get in those brown packets at coffee shops) 

7 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup plain yogurt (full fat) 

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips (For most recipes that call for chocolate chips, my grandma ships me Trader Joes Pound Plus 70% Cocoa Chocolate, which I chop up haphazardly) 

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Place the butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave briefly, until just melted. Add the sugars, and sift in the cocoa. (the original recipe said to sift, but i got lazy and there's nothing in the batter at this point that would be messed up if you didn't mind just mixing a little more) Stir to blend well. The mixture will be somewhat thick and pasty, like wet sand (if this description doesn't conjure dreams of heavenly cookies, what can) Add the yogurt and vanilla and stir to mix thoroughly. Add the dry flour mixture, and stir to just combine. Add the chocolate chips and stir to incorporate.

Drop the dough by generous tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheet. (Orangette originally says to use Tablespoon measure to measure out the dough, but i have this awesome cookie scoop*) You should be able to fit about 8 or 9 cookies, nicely spaced, on a standard sheet pan. (I fit five because my oven is small and cute). Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies have crackled slightly and look set. Transfer the sheet pan to a wire rack, and cool the cookies on the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer them to the rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Dip in milk :)

Okay a few things post-recipe. 

 First, this seems like a good time to introduce my cute oven  

Hi oven.

Second, my cookie scoop is the best. I don't even have a mixer, but i have a cookie scoop. It is purple and it scoops cookies like nobody's business. My aunt, who is a baker like me, suggested it in its awesome entirety. For 4th of July, I had to make next to 200 cookies and this cookie scoop made them all. Another thing about cookie scoops is that the make your cookies more uniform in size and therefore they look more professional. Im just saying...