The DaVinci Cookie

Ultimate Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Makes 17 big fat ones.

300g plain (all-purpose) flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 teaspoon fine salt
170g unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
215g light brown sugar (buy the good stuff)
120g granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 large fresh egg
1 large fresh egg yolk
300g milk chocolate chunks - break up a entire chocolate bar into little pieces with a large kitchen knife. Galaxy chocolate is rather splendid, but this is entirely down to personal preference. White chocolate is an awesome variation. Personally I use a mix of milk, dark and white chocolate, after all, we are talking about the ultimate cookie!

1. Sift together flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Set aside.

2. In a separate, larger bowl Stir together melted butter, brown sugar, sugar and vanilla. Add egg, then the yolk. Beat well to ensure that egg is evenly distributed. Stir in dry ingredients, and then fold in chocolate chunks until incorporated. It will look as if there are too many chocolate chunks but the dough will be able to hold them all. Cover with Clingfilm and chill dough until firm. At least 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas Mark 5.

4. Drop 1/4 cup sized "hockey puck shaped" mounds of dough onto a greased baking sheet. I use a 1/4 measuring cup to both measure and shape the dough which works perfectly.

5. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 10-12 minutes or only until the edges begin to turn golden. (They'll look and feel underdone but they're ready). Cool on the sheet for 1 minute and remove with a wide spatula to a cooling rack. Cool thoroughly and enjoy! If you don’t have a cooling rack you can use the wire grill part of your oven’s grill raised on a couple of wooden spoons.

* You might try adding a tiny pinch of chili powder to the mixture, or a touch of cinamon. I've heard of people adding peanut butter, peanuts, Jordon's Country Crisp breakfast cereal (looks like little museli clusters), dried fruits and some other, more exotic but contraband additions to the mixture. As long as you stick roughly to the ratios of dough to chocolate you should be okay. Too much choc and they fall apart. I sometimes add a tablespoon of golden syrup to the mixture to get that extra gooey consistency, but again the possibilities are endless. These little beauties go down especially well with a cup of spiced tea.