Black and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Not to be confused with the Black and White cookie of Seinfeld fame, these cookies have chunks of both black and white chocolate in them. And in this case, “black” chocolate means bittersweet (about 63% cacao) to contrast with the sweetness of the white chocolate. Milk chocolate would not be a good match in these.

Chopping chocolate is fun when you have a chipper. Chocolate chippers look like small pitchforks and are the best way to chop chocolate. A bit of pressure on the chipper and the prongs puncture the chocolate, causing small pieces to shatter off. Unlike using a knife, the risk of cutting yourself with this tool is very small, even with very hard chocolate. White chocolate cuts easily, though, since it is relatively soft due to the high cocoa butter content.

With the large amount of chocolate that is in them, the cookies are lovely. They are buttery, crisp on the edges and softer in the center. The batter is stiff, so it is helpful to use some sort of electric mixer rather than attempting to to them by hand. Baking the cookies for a minute longer will produce crisper cookies, while a minute less will give you much chewier ones. They have a subtle caramel flavor in amongst the chocolate pieces, but chopping the chocolate yourself means that there will be tiny shards of chocolate flavoring the cookies in addition to the larger chunks. In total, there will be a little more than a cup of each type of chocolate added to the batter. The chocolates balance each other out wonderfully, but these are sweet cookies. Fortunately, cookies are best when they’re sweet.

Black and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, very soft

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

6-ounces dark/bittersweet chocolate, chopped

6-ounces white chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in eggs one at a time, along with the vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture at a low speed, stopping when just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.
Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned at the edges.
Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container.

Makes 3 dozen fairly large cookeis