Chocolate Hazelnut Fudgy Cake Cookies

These are quite simply the best fudgy,chocolaty, cakey cookies I have ever made! They hard on the edges and soft and moist on the inside and they stay moist for days if you should have any left over. There are some very high quality chocolate bars available in your plain old grocery store these days, try a really good bar or two instead of dull old chocolate chips or reaching for the Baker's chocolate for a really fantastic cookie. Big Pete said he could eat these all day.

Get out a glass of milk and enjoy!

You will need:

• 200 grams of the best chocolate you can find 70% ( Lindt or similar bars are usually 100grams each and not a bad option but, if you can get something really good try it....it's only a small amount!)
• 1/2 cup softened/room temp unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs room temperature
• 1 tsp best Vanilla (never use artificial Vanilla its made from a wood by-product)
• 1/2- 3/4 cup toasted hazelnuts - roughly chopped (I like lots)
• 1 cup all purpose flour (depending on the chocolate you might need another tbsp or two)
• 1 tsp baking powder
•  pinch of salt

Step 1: buy some really great bars of chocolate. I bought these in my plain old grocery store in the speciality chocolate aisle (don't use the Baker's chocolate or choc chips if you have some better options. This is the star of the cookie and you will be amazed at the difference it will make. Of course it is still a good cookie with any chocolate but....just sayin!!! (look how pretty that bar is)

Step 2: chop chocolate into large chunks and place in a large bowl over a pot with a few inches of water. Allow the water to simmer on a medium heat for a few minutes. Once it looks like half of the chocolate has melted you can gently stir a few times to incorporate. Remove bowl from pot and let cool on the counter slightly. Be aware that the bowl should be bigger than the pot  and you should not get any steam or water in the chocolate or it may seize up on you.

Step 3: in another bowl add softened butter and sugar. You can mix with a stand or hand mixer but, I am lazy and will avoid washing extra things if possible so I just used a wooden spoon and mixed by hand. Don't worry if it seems too dry, once you add eggs it will be fine.

Step 4: add the eggs and vanilla and beat for 2-3 minutes. I actually changed from a wooden spoon to a whisk at this stage to get it fully incorporated.

Step 5: toast nuts in a dry pan for a few minutes and you can remove some of the skins by placing the warm nuts in a clean tea towel and rubbing them. I take off some of the skins and leave most but you do them as you like. You can be flexible and add a bit more or less nuts. Add nuts and stir into mix.

Step 6: add your slightly cooled melted chocolate and stir to incorporate.

Step 7: add your flour, baking powder and salt and stir until incorporated. It should thicken up enough to glob a heaping tablespoon of thick batter on a parchment lined cookie sheet. If it is too thin add another tbsp of flour until it looks thick enough.

Step 8: with a tablespoon measure out a large blob of batter and using another spoon you can scrape off dough onto sheet. Pile 6 cookie blobs per parchment lined cookie sheet. I got 10 big cookies in total from my mix. Make sure there is lots of room around each cookie.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes (no more) - to make a giant soft, gooey cake cookie. You will think the cookie is not done but, I assure you it is better to under bake a cookie than to over bake it. 10 minutes and you should have a puffy, crackled cookie but it will be too soft on the inside. It will harden as it cools on the tray. Don't try to remove to a cooling rack, just leave them for a good 15-20 minutes. They will harden up enough to pick up however, they will still be a delicate cookie with a cakey interior. This is also why they should be exactly 1 tablespoon in size - if you make them too big they wont hold together and will just crumble if you try to pick them up. 1 tbsp size =  10 perfect cookies.

You know you are dying to eat one of these!!