RECIPE: SOFT AND CHEWY BROWNIE COOKIES

I have to admit, there are days when I just don't want to bake.

Especially now that it's been too hot to do anything except turn on the aircon, stay in bed and catch up on my TV shows.

Seriously, that's how I wanted to spend my Sunday.

But the little boy kept prodding me to bake or bring him to his Tita Carla's house so he can play with her kids.

We started baking after lunch and then that's when I got the call from my friend, Carla sounding very frantic and asking if I could accompany her to St. Luke's because she needs to have her son checked.  You see, she had her son circumcised early last week and according to her, she felt something was wrong because "it" looked wrong.  Of course, when it comes to emergencies like these, you just drop whatever it is you're doing and go.

Luckily, I was almost finished with the batter so I decided to just keep it in the refrigerator.  Joaquin and I got ready as fast as we could and then Carla and I dropped Joaquin off at her house and to the hospital we went.

Turns out, my friend's son's--you know-- was normal and the doctor and urologist assured us that it would look like a typical *ehem*, you know, as soon as it heals.

So anyway, Joaquin and I ended up staying at Carla's till dinner and then our other friends came too and before you know it, it was 10pm and it was time to go home.

"Mama, let's bake the brownie cookies!", my son said while we were on our way home.  I tried to argue that it was night time but at the same time, I kept thinking about how long the batter has been in the refrigerator and how the cookies might not turn out as good if I wait till the next day.

So we baked them cookies.  And how yummy!  They turned out a little crisp on the outside and all chewy and moist inside.  I wouldn't think twice about making these again. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
12 ounces of dark chocolate, chopped and divided into 7 ounces and 5 ounces. (12oz = 1.5 cups)
3 tablespoons butter
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Combine 7 ounces of chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in the microwave for 1 minute.   Give it a stir then heat in 10-second bursts until the mixture can be stirred smooth.  Set aside to cool.

Using an electric mixer, add eggs, sugar, vanilla and beat for 8 minutes on medium speed or until it looks pale and creamy.

Add the flour, baking powder, melted chocolate-and-butter mixture, and pour in the remaining 5 ounces of chopped chocolate.  Mix for about 1 minute on medium speed. 

Your mixture will look like and have the consistency of chocolate fudge.  And that's why you need to cover your bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to stand at room temperature for about an hour so the batter firms up.

When ready, scoop out mounds of dough onto buttered baking sheets or silicone mats (I don't have one and I want one but so expensive!).  Do not crowd your cookies because these spread.  I placed 9 mounds per tray. I didn't do this part but it is suggested that you do (I think this is why my cookies turned out thinner than I would have liked) -- allow mounds to remain on baking trays, uncovered for about an hour before baking to help batter really set.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.  Allow cookies to cool on trays before transferring to your mouth (haha!) or an airtight container.

Nomnom!