Mini Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Mini Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I've got several chocolate chip cookie recipes here on this blog--fifteen to be exact. This will make sixteen. I was going to go for my current favorite, Crisp Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies Made Easy, but then I know that my husband prefers softer cookies. So instead of the Crisco, I put in 2 oz. cream cheese and baked them not quite as long. They've only been out of the oven for about 15 minutes, but they are soft, chewy, chocolatey, nutty, and fabulous. I still prefer the crisp ones, but I think I'll manage to eat more than my share of these.
The beauty of these cookies is the way you form them. Smoosh the dough in the pan, refrigerate, cut into cubes, place cubes on pan and bake! Waaay easier than scooping dough. Plus, you can just bake a few at a time to make sure you have fresh cookies for like a week. I've toyed with the idea of freezing the cubes too, so I can just pop the cubes from the freezer onto the pan. I might do that with my remaining dough, but for now, I just have the time to post this yummy recipe.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

     --adapted from Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur 


Ingredients 

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 2 oz. cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup brown sugar 
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 ½ cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 9.5 oz bag Dove Dark Chocolate Promises, unwrapped & cut into ¼-inch chunks
• 1 ½ cups chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions
1. Cream butter, cream cheese, egg, & vanilla in a medium size bowl. (This will take a little while for the wet ingredients to emulsify and turn creamy. It will go from chunky to cottage cheesy to solid and liquid to a nice creamy consistency. Trust me.)
2. In a large bowl, stir together with a whisk the sugars, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour.
3. Combine moist mixture with dry mixture just until it comes together (do not over mix). Add the tablespoon of water at this point and mix until incorporated. Add the chocolate chunks and pecans. Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper and press dough into the pan. Place wax paper or plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the dough. Refrigerate dough two hours or over night. 
4. Preheat oven to 375°F. With a sharp knife, cut dough into approximately half-inch cubes and place cubes, 1 1/2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
5. Bake 7-8 minutes, or until puffed and light brown around the edges.
Makes about 13-14 dozen little cookies.