My niece Amanda just turned 10 years old on Monday. That makes her officially a TWEEN, a full decade! For her birthday I bought her art supplies; she’s an artist like me (insert a really big smiley face here)! I spent 2 hours in Michael’s Arts & Crafts store, searching aisle by aisle until I found just the right thing for her. She loves to draw so I sent her a really nice sketchbook that she can customize and very special set of professional color pencils. Whenever I send my niece a present, I always bake cookies to send with it. I’ve been doing that for probably 7 years now for both her and her brother. Amanda’s favorite cookies have only one criteria, lots of chocolate please! I usually send her my mothers recipe’s of rich brownie like chocolate cookies or thumb cookies with a big Hershey’s Kiss in the middle.

This year I wanted to try a new recipe that was less rich since I wanted to decorate them with colorful candy chips. My mother’s cookies stand on their own, no embellishments needed! I searched through some recipes and came across something called a double chocolate dream cookie in my recipe file. I don’t know where I got it from but I liked the name so I thought I would give it a try!

Since it’s the first time making this recipe, I decided to do a little experimenting. I baked them as is, then decorated them differently to see how they would come out. I left some cookies plain, others I baked with chocolate centers and added candies on top, and the last version I drizzled with chocolate and sprinkled with candy chips. A cookie for everyone! The candy really made them shine and added a nice artistic flair and crunch to the soft pillow like texture of the cookie. Note: Candy chips can be purchased at a candy or cake supply store. If you can’t find them, mini m&m candies or color sprinkles will work just great! Enjoy!

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa plus 1 tablespoon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoon good vanilla extract
2 extra large eggs
2 1/2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup white chocolate melts (Bakers, Wilton’s, or other brand you prefer) (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate melts (optional)
1/2 cup – chocolate candy chips, sprinkles or mini m&m candies (optional)

Preheat oven to 375° F. Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium size bowl add flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and whisk to combine. Blend butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs for about 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Stir in chips and drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets. I used a small cookie scoop for this step.