Espresso Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

As I was perusing my cookie recipes in search of my oatmeal raisin recipe, I came across this one.  So I decided to make it before doing the oatmeal raisins.  What a great flavor combo!  While I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter or peanut butter/chocolate, I DO appreciate a good mocha-flavored goodie.  And that's what this is.  Actually, I don't know why I hadn't made this before.  It's really pretty simple.

The recipe is compliments of foodnetwork.com

Here it is...

ESPRESSO DARK CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Makes 2 dozen cookies

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 30 seconds. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips.

Using a 1-ounce scoop or a 2-tablespoon measure, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart. Gently press down on the dough with the back of a spoon to spread out into a 2-inch circle. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie.

PERSONAL NOTES:

I used almost double the amount of espresso because I like a pretty strong coffee flavor.  Also, I used a fine quality dark chocolate (75% cacao, Tarakan Chocolate). I think this makes the overall flavor much more dramatic.  I love it!