There is a lunch spot near my office that has great sandwiches (like a smoked turkey, apple, cheddar cheese and honey mustard number that would knock your socks off) and even better cookies. They have this huge mocha chocolate chip cookie that tastes incredible but that I think is a little rough nutritionally. I wanted to try to recreate it at home and see what I could do about making them a little bit less terrible for you, and I’m happy to say that they came out pretty good!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Justin liked them so much that they had to be hidden away and rationed out daily. The bad news is that he found them yesterday and the cookies are no longer with us. They will be remembered fondly.

Here we go!

Start by whisking together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

For the mocha portion of the recipe, I used instant coffee. I’m sure you could use brewed coffee as well but we had instant and I was feeling lazy.

Whisk the eggs, vanilla and coffee together until the coffee is dissolved.

Beat the butter, brown sugar and white sugar for a few minutes on medium speed.

Add in the coffee mixture

and beat until combined.

Add in the flour mixture slowly and mix on low until combined.

Assuming you haven’t eaten them all already, add in the chocolate chips and mix by hand until incorporated.

Cover and refrigerate the dough for 45 minutes or so to make it easier to work with, and then drop by rounded tablespoon onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Don’t each any much of the dough.

Bake ’em up and enjoy!

Double Chocolate Mocha Chip Cookies

makes: 2 dozen cookies / prep time: 10 minutes / bake time: 10-12 minutes

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and instant coffee until the coffee is dissolved. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and white sugar for 2-3 minutes on medium speed, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add in the egg mixture and beat until combined. Set the speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture. Hand-mix the chocolate chips into the dough and then cover and refrigerate for about 45 minutes. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and drop the dough by rounded tablespoon, leaving some space in between each cookie. Bake the cookie sheets one at a time for 10-12 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through. Leave the cookies on the sheet for 10 minutes and the transfer to a cooling rack.