Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am back!!  But already planning my next trip to the Caribbean!  We had such a good time on our trip that we will be going back in about 6 months.  We went to St. Thomas, St. John, Antigua, Tortola, and Nassau.    The water was amazingly clear and we saw tons of fish and sea turtles.   The beaches looked like screen savers, it was ridiculous! Here are some pictures from my trip.

Snorkeling in St. John off Honeymoon Beach

Snorkeling in St. John off Honeymoon Beach

St. John, USVI,  Honeymoon Beach

Swimming at Coki Beach, St. Thomas

Valley Church Beach, Antigua

Valley Church Beach, Antigua with a Corona

Valley Church Beach, Antigua

Atlantis Resort, Bahamas, Top of one water slide

Kayaking of Tortola, BVI

Moving on to the baking, I have a friends that is still nursing her baby and cannot have nuts so I wanted to make thing that she could eat.  I found this recipe and decided to give it a try.  This cookie surprised me.  It was super moist and amazingly chocolaty, but at the same time very light and fluffy.  They really puff up in the oven.  I didn't make them as big as the recipe called for because there needed to be enough for me to share with everyone.  So I made big cookies, but not giant cookies.  I also changed the recipe a little bit, I didn't have dark cocoa powder so I used regular unsweetened cocoa powder, and I added vanilla.  These cookies got tons of compliments so I am sure you will love them too!

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe adapted from Love From The Oven.com
Yield: about 3 dozen large cookies
Ingredients:
2 Sticks of Unsalted Butter, cold and cubed (1 Cup)
1 1/4 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, Or Dark Cocoa
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
2 1/4 Cup Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
2 1/2 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare baking sheets.
2. Cut up the butter into cubes.  Add to the bowl of your elecrtic mixer and add the sugar.  Cream on high speed with the paddle attachement until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add in the eggs one at a time, be sure to scrape the bowl.  Add the vanilla and cocoa powder. Mix until fully incorporated.
4. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix just until combined. Add in the chocolate chips. (the dough will be thick)
5. I used a cookie scoop and scooped over size balls of dough, rolled them and flatened them just a little bit.  The orignal recipe calls for giant cookies where the dough is divided into 12 pieces, but if you want more to share, I would make smaller cookies.
6. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until cracked on the top.  Let cool on sheet for 4 minutes and then move to cooling rack.
7. Enjoy with a glass of milk!