Light chocolate cookies

• butter↗250g g

  soft

• light soft brown sugar↗350g g
• large eggs↗2
• self-raising flour↗350g g
• cocoa powder↗100g g
• chocolate chips↗200g g

  or crushed chocolate pieces, or 400g for optional dipping (choose your favourite type)

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Cream the butter and sugar together with an optional pinch of sea salt in a bowl until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Sift the flour and cocoa powder and add them to the butter mixture, then gently fold in the chocolate chips. The dough can be prepared up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated or frozen for a month, or used immediately.

2. 2

   For baking, preheat the oven to 190 °C/170 °C with convection/gas 5. If the dough is at room temperature, drop it evenly with spoons onto a parchment‑lined tray, leaving 2 tbsp between each cookie. If the dough is cold from the fridge, shape it into 40 g balls before baking. The balls can be frozen, and the cookies baked frozen, though they will need a few extra minutes. Bake for 12‑15 minutes until the cookies spread and become crisp at the edges. Let them cool slightly and enjoy them warm, or let them cool completely and eat them cold. The cookies will keep in a jar for three days.

3. 3

   If desired, the cookies can be dipped in chocolate. To do this, melt your chosen chocolate bar in a bowl over a pot of boiling water or in the microwave. Let it cool slightly, then dip half of each cookie in the chocolate and place them on parchment in a cool place to set. Again, the dipped cookies will keep for up to three days in a jar or sealed plastic container.