Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Despite my strong love of chocolate, I'm typically not a fan of desserts that have a heavy chocolate base. I prefer my cakes to be white (or marbled) with chocolate frosting, and am not a huge fan of chocolate ice cream (but give me fudge swirls and chocolate cookie pieces any day of the week). However, I can't resist the occasional cocoa-rich recipe, and this cookie is definitely one of those exceptions. It's a great, basic recipe for any time of the year, but to spruce it up for the holidays I substituted mint chips for the Reese's Peanut Butter chips called for in the recipe. Mmm... Mint and chocolate. Another winning combination.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies
(from the back of a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Chips)

2 cups flour
3/4 cups cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cup (10 oz) Reese's Peanut Butter Chips (or any kind of chip)

Preheat oven 350*. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating well to combine. Stir in peanut butter chips. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto un-greased cookie sheet. Bake eight to nine minutes and cool slightly. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack; cool completely.

As you can see from the picture, these cookies will flatten a little as they cool (even though they puff up while cooking). So be careful not to over-bake them.