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1
Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. (Note on the flour: I live at a higher altitude so if you live closer to sea level, you may want to cut back on the flour by a few tablespoons.)
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2
In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy (about 3 or 4 minutes). Slowly beat in the eggs and vanilla, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, until you have a light-colored and thoroughly blended mixture.
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3
Place the semisweet chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl and set aside. In a double boiler heat the milk and butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it begins to simmer. Turn off the heat and pour the milk over the chocolate chips and allow to sit for a few minutes to melt the chocolate, then whisk until all the chocolate is melted and you have a smooth and shiny liquid chocolate.
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4
Alternate adding half of the dry mixture and half of the melted chocolate to the contents of the stand mixer bowl until everything is combined. Do not overmix! The dough should be fairly thick with a slightly sticky texture. (If you overmix after adding the dry ingredients, you will develop the gluten in the flour and make a cookie with a tough consistency. Mix on low just until the flour disappears into the dough. Do not be tempted to add more flour if the dough looks runnier than you think it should be, this will dry out the cookie. Even if the dough seems really soft, it will firm up in the fridge.)
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5
Gently mix in the three different kinds of chocolate chips and distribute them evenly through the dough.
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6
Turn the dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Wrap the dough up tight and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours. It can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days before it needs to be baked or frozen. Do not skip this step!
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7
Once the dough is completely chilled and firm, remove the plastic wrap and roll into tablespoon-sized balls. Preheat the oven to 350u00b0F. Place the cookie dough balls on a Silpat-lined cookie sheet (I can usually fit about 18 to a tray) and bake for 10 to 11 minutes.
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8
Remove them from the oven when the top of the dough starts to crack. Let them rest on the cookie sheet outside the oven for 1 minute before placing them on a cooling rack. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before eating. Best served warm, fresh out of the oven. Store any leftover cookies in an airtight Ziploc bag for up to a week. When they are fresh out of the oven they have a soft and fudgy texture. Once they are fully cooled overnight, they have a lighter, cake-like but slightly chewy texture.
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9
You can also place the unbaked cookie dough balls in a plastic bag and freezer them for baking at a later date. You can bake straight from frozen using the same baking instructions above but you may have to add a few minutes to the baking time.
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10
This recipe makes about 60 to 70 cookies depending on how large you roll them. My test batch made 72 tablespoon size dough balls.
