mini deep-dish chocolate chip cookies.

I think a lot has been said about the deep-dish chocolate cookie. I think it’s a fantastic idea. You get a warm, gooey cookie and a bonus gift: a place to hold your ice cream. I would love to do that for say, maybe  6-8 people as a nice way to end a dinner party. And I think that’s so suited to restaurants in lieu of other cake/pie offerings. My only issue with the deep-dish? I can’t make 50 at a time. I just simply don’t have that many ramekins handy, and even if I did, how would I store the completed cookie? I wanted the cookie but not all the mess.

But then i figured it out. I could have my deep-dish cookie army, they could be easy to store once baked, aaaaaaand…no individual portions! Mind you, I had no idea how this would work or if it would work, but i was willing to try (many times) to get it right. Thankfully, with a little monkeying of a family recipe and a mini-muffin tin, it only took me one try.

The cookie recipe itself is delicious all on its own: you can make regular cookies out of it and they turn out, well, just like a chocolate chip cookie should. If you do that, I’d set your timer for 9-11 minutes, making sure to check them early so you bake them according to your doughy-versus-crisp preference. Or, with a little mini-muffin tin magic and a few less minutes in the oven,  they turn out like this:

Yum. And cute, right? And with the holiday season upon us, I’m always looking for new additions to rotate in to my annual cookie gift assortments. I need easy treats that don’t involve tons of labor and that make quite a few pieces per batch. These, although not necessarily “holiday-ish” in nature, make great little:

• gifts (just add small bag + ribbon)
• individual desserts (just add schmancy toothpick + silver tray)
• treats for the kiddos (just add kiddos)

Or they made fun treats for my baby, at least. She can’t get enough of them and they get surprisingly un-messy when molded into a muffin shape. Weird.

One warning: and I honestly not one of those people who go back again and again for sweet things if they happen to be around. I’m just really not. But these were a problem for me in terms of the repeat eating. I think it’s due to their exact perfect size–you feel like you had something decadent and at the same time like maybe you didn’t eat that much because it was just a tiny cookie, right? I mean, there’s a reason they call those muffin tins “mini”…right?

Don’t kid yourselves.

Adapted from my family’s recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Eat as many as you want. It’s holiday time.

Mini Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375˚F. Grease the inside of a mini-muffin pan, making sure to get all the way up the sides.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Using either a hand or stand mixer, beat white sugar, brown sugar, and butter together until creamy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and add vanilla, beat again for a few seconds.

Add flour mixture in 2 parts, beating on low until mixed. Fold in chocolate chips (you can either use a wooden spoon or spatula for this; just don’t use the beaters).

Place dough in refrigerator (I leave mine in the mixing bowl; you can put it in another bowl if it’s easier) and let chill for about 15-20 minutes. I think this makes it a bit easier to form the balls which go into the muffin tin.

Once chilled a little, remove dough from refrigerator and form into 1-inch balls. place in muffin tin, pressing down just a bit to fill the cups a bit. They don’t have to be perfect balls at all: it just helps in terms of uniform sizing, since cookie dough doesn’t just ooze into tins evenly.

Bake for maybe 7-8 minutes, depending on how hot your oven runs, checking them at the 7 minute mark for doneness. Let cool in their tins on a metal rack for 10 minutes.

Once you’re ready to unleash your mini deep dish goodies, take a small, thin knife and use it to stick it down the side of each and sort of just pop them out. I don’t know a better way to describe it. they should come out undisturbed and without a fuss.

Give them away as gifts, serve them at a party, and hide the rest from yourself.