overnight cookies
These are the kind of cookies you dream about. Sweet, gooey, golden at the edges, with just enough salt to make the chocolate sing.
I triple the batch and keep a bag of cookie dough balls in the freezer—ready for a bad day, a late-night craving, or a post-dinner moment that calls for something just right. They've quietly become a favourite with friends and family, showing up at house parties, weeknight dinners, and anywhere else that needs a little lift.
The secret to these their greatness is an overnight rest in the fridge. Once you’ve made the dough, roll it into balls and let it rest in the fridge for at least 12 hours. The flour will fully integrate with the rest of the ingredients, the flavour will intensify, and, when cooked from chilled, the dough will melt slowly and create that delicious soft-in-the-middle, crispy-on-the-outside combo that we all love.
Are these the best cookies you’ll ever make? Maybe. Will you find it hard to not eat the whole batch a little too fast? Probably.
All I can say is that no matter whether you dunk them in milk, eat them plain, use them to create an ice cream sandwich, or just eat the raw dough, there is no wrong way to eat these little gems.
for the cookies
140g good butter (softened)
250g plain flour
150g dark brown sugar
100g caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp salt
175g chopped dark chocolate (70%+)
method
Start by creaming the butter and both sugars together, until it begins to lighten in colour.
Add the egg and vanilla, and mix it in with a flat spatula. Be careful at this stage as you don’t want to mix too hard and aerate the egg.
Mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a separate bowl. Add this to the wet mix and gently fold it in. Try to be as careful as possible here in order to not add any air, and avoid strengthening the gluten in the flour.
Add the chocolate and try to mix in evenly.
Roll the dough into 60g balls and place on a baking tray.
Cling film the tray and let them rest in the fridge for at least 12 hours, but ideally somewhere between 12 and 24 hours.
Once they have rested, feel free to put some of the balls in a freezer bag and freeze for later.
When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 180c.
Spread the balls out on couple of baking trays, bearing in mind that they’ll spread out when cooking.
Cook for 12 minutes if cooking from chilled and 14 minutes if cooking from frozen. You want to bake them to the point where the balls have completely flattened, and the edges are just starting to brown.
Take them out and let them cool slightly so that they firm up enough to pick up, but try to eat them whilst they’re still warm.
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If you want to try something a little different, sub out 50g of flour for 50g of good quality cocoa. You can also sub some of the chocolate chips for peanut butter chips, if you like. These double chocolate versions are crazy good, but also allow you to have a little fun by rolling the two doughs together into a 50:50 cookie.
