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Chocolate Chunk Drop Cookies.Liam Mogan/The Globe and Mail

Cookies made with dough you drop by the spoonful onto a baking sheet are among the simplest to make – chocolate chunk are the most familiar, but you could add just about anything to that soft, buttery brown sugar dough.

Servings: About two dozen cookies

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups chopped dark chocolate

Method

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars for 2-3 minutes, until pale and light. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and stir or beat on low speed until almost combined; add the chocolate chunks (and/or any other additions you like) and stir by hand or mix on low speed just until blended.

Drop the dough by the spoonful (or use a small ice-cream scoop for more uniform cookies) onto a parchment-lined sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes, until golden around the edges but still soft in the middle.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to four days.

How to dress them up:

- Add the grated zest of an orange as you beat the butter and sugar. Use chopped dark chocolate for chocolate-orange cookies, or swap white chocolate and add some dried cranberries or cherries and chopped pecans to the dough as well.

- Stir in chopped holiday chocolates such as Toblerone or Turtles instead of plain chocolate.

- Swap 1/2 cup cocoa for 1/2 cup of the flour to make chocolate dough, and stir in a combination of chopped white and dark chocolate.

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