Cocoa, Chocolate, Chocolate, CHOCOLATE Cookies

Check these out...They are like 

"brownies in a cookie's body!"

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We sometimes think we have to make have an excuse for making something this 'chocolatey', and I had mine: 

1. I saw a recipe for these on the Internet.
2. I had an empty plate.
3. I had cocoa and different kinds of chocolate chips on hand. 
4. In the refrigerator, I had cold milk wanting to get into a glass. 
5. I wanted some. For 'one a day' (you know, like the one a day multi-vitamins we sometimes take!)...

A 'sniff' is ALMOST as great as their taste!  AL-MOST!

If you're looking for a 'healthy' kind of cookie, you may have to skip over these!

Yield:   After I made the dough into smooth 1.5" balls, I ended up with about 4 dozen cookies.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups (4 sticks) butter, softened
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract

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• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 and 1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

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• 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used one of 12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chips, 1 cup of 60% cacao bittersweet chips, and 1 cup milk chocolate chips.)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, optional

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
• In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Set aside.
• Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  
• Stir dry into the butter mixture until well blended.
• Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts
• Using hands, roll dough into 1.5" balls and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Bake for 'about' 11-12 minutes.  (Ovens vary, so check yours with the first batch to see how long it takes for them to set up.)
• Let hot cookies sit on baking sheets for a few minutes so they can 'finish baking' before moving them to a cooling rack.  Store in air-tight container (I don't know that it's necessary, but I like to put a layer of Saran wrap or waxed paper between the layers of cookies). 

Wish I could hand you a sample (or more!).

This recipe was adapted from one submitted to allrecipes by Kathy of Pemberville, Ohio.