Recipe: Double Chocolate Chunk Walnut Cookies

Perhaps you may be thinking: "Oh, not another cookie recipe. Nothing new". Well hold your horses because this recipe is different (healthier!), but yet retains the good ol' chocolaty goodness we'd expect of a double chocolate chunk cookie.

If you favour crispy cookies filled with buttery goodness, then by all means close this window, because this recipe yields moist, chewy, fluffy cake-like cookies that make you wanna reach for that second, third, forth, fifth (...you get my drift) helping.

I've tweaked some of the ingredients (just wanted to use whatever I had at home), so here goes:

Double Chocolate Chunk Walnut Cookies (taken from here)

1. 1/2 cup raw sugar (I used granulated white sugar)
2. 1/3 cup unpacked dark brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
3. 1/4 cup mashed avocado
4. 1 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
5. 1 large egg white
6. 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
7. 1/2 cup white whole-wheat unbleached flour (I used all-purpose flour)
8. 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
9. 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
10. 1/4 tsp baking soda
11. 1/8 tsp kosher salt
12. 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chunks (I used bittersweet; I like my chocolate DARK)
13. 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (I would increase to 1 cup next time round as I'd prefer a bit more crunch in my cookies, to balance out the chewy texture of the cookie itself - you know what I mean, right?)

• Preheat your oven to 180C and line your baking trays with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, whisk together the sugars, avocado, applesauce, egg white and vanilla until the sugar dissolves (about 2 to 3 minutes).
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Fold in the dry ingredients with a spatula in two additions. Using a spatula, fold in the chocolate chunks and walnuts. At this point, the dough will be very sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls about 1 inch apart (I used an ice cream scoop) onto the prepared baking trays, smooth the top and bake until almost set, for about 10 to 12 minutes (I baked for 12 minutes as mine are slightly larger).
• Let cool for 5 minutes on the tray, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

This recipe yielded 12 cookies for me (remember I used an ice cream scoop), but it should yield 24 cookies if you stick to using the tablespoon to measure.