Yes, it's come to this. We have now been without a kitchen for some 56 days and last week my daughter and I decided to bravely face a new frontier:  toaster oven baking. And you know what? Our trusty little old countertop appliance came through with flying colors!! Not sure how it would do with a small cake or more complicated pastry, but as far as baking this small batch of cookies (4 to be exact) it was a champ! These are the cookies of any chocoholic's dreams!!

Before going the toaster oven route, we tried a variety of mug cakes, all of which left us feeling rather "meh". They're certainly easy to make but gummy and not all that satisfying. Maybe I'm doing it wrong--if you've had any great success with microwave baking, I'd love to hear any tips or tricks you have. Meanwhile, I am seriously hooked on this toaster oven experience and would like to try a crumble or a lava cake or anything that would work well in a ramekin. Can you tell I've been without an oven for too long?!!!

But enough griping, let me now try to express just how delicious these double chocolate cookies are and I know this cookie love is not just because we've been deprived of home-baked goods for so long. Large, chewy, rich, full of dark chocolate chips, these entirely satisfy. Plus, they come together quickly without a mixer (another boon for bedroom cooking) and keep you from stuffing too many in your mouth and completely ruining everything, because the entire recipe makes only 4 cookies!! I think I know what's on the agenda for tonight!!! Yum!!

Small Batch Toaster Oven Double Chocolate Cookies

Makes 4 large cookies

Prep Time:  10 minutes; Bake Time:  Anywhere from 10-14 minutes per cookie, depending on your oven and how underdone you like your cookies-- I had to bake these one at a time because they spread a lot while baking

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks

The Recipe

1.  Preheat toaster oven or conventional oven to 350ºF. Line the toaster oven pan or a baking sheet for a conventional oven with parchment paper and set aside.

2.  Place the melted butter and both sugars in a medium bowl and whisk together well. Add in the egg yolk and vanilla and whisk in well, beating until the mixture is smooth. Set aside.

3.  In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, breaking up any lumps. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and use a spoon to incorporate them together, just until no flour is visible. You don't want to over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and flatten out each piece a little into a small disk. If using a toaster oven, I would advise you cook one cookie at a time as these spread a lot while baking. If using an oven, you can cook them all at once.

4.  Place the cookie or cookies on the prepared sheet and bake for 10-14 minutes, reversing the tray halfway through the process for even cooking. These are best a little underbaked, so once the edges are set and the centers are still a little soft, you should remove them and let them cool. Transfer the tray to a baking sheet and let cool for a few minutes, before transferring the cookies themselves to the rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy!

Note:  Recipe adapted from Treats and Eats