Thick and Chewy Double (or Triple) Chocolate Cookies

If you liked those brownies I posted recently, you will love these. I might even like these better than the brownies. I am all about the decadent desserts lately, huh? You'd think I was pregnant or something...

This is another one from my America's Test Kitchen cookbook.

This makes about 3.5 dozen cookies (or 4 dozen if you add the chocolate chips)
(I often half the recipe because even just one of these cookies seriously mean business)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I have used about 2 2/3 cups chocolate chips when I was out of bar chocolate, but bar chocolates have a better fat content for this application)
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder (For SOME reason, I don't have any of this in my home ;) I skipped it.)
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Triple chocolate option (but who WOULDN'T want to add this??? seriously, not "optional" if you ask me): 12 ounces (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

1. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Melt the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water, stirring once or twice, until smooth; remove from heat OR to melt in microwave, heat at 50% power for 2 minutes, stir, then continue heating at 50% power for 1 more minute and then if not completely melted, heat an additional 30 to 45 seconds at 50% power. Beat the eggs and vanilla lightly with a fork, sprinkle the coffee powder over to dissolve (if using), and set aside.
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 seconds. Beat in the sugars until combined, about 45 seconds; the mixture will look granular. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in the egg mixture until incorporated, about 45 seconds. Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined, about 40 seconds. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. With the mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overbeat. If using chocolate chips (YES, YES), use a wooden spoon to stir in now. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until consistency is scoopable and fudgelike, about 30 minutes. (Unless it is summer in Texas, in which case, about never. This will just be a very messy endeavor, but it's worth it!)
4. Meanwhile, adjust the oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. (Unless your other two cookie sheets are dirty and you're too lazy to wash them. Then just use one. The benefit of using just one sheet is that you're spared moving the sheets around part way through baking and you have more chances to fine tune your baking time. If you half the recipe like I did, two sheets mean they all cook at once, so if you decide you took them out a touch too soon, oh well. No second chance for you! But one sheet means second chances. I suppose the down side is that you spend more time with your oven heating up your house. Can you tell I'm not handling the heat well lately?) Leaving about 1 1/2 inches between each ball, scoop the dough onto the parchment-lined cookie sheets with a 1 3/4 inch spring-loaded ice cream scoop (I don't have this size scoop, so I just estimate a really really heaping scoop with my regular cookie dough scoop. Good luck.)
5. Bake, reversing the position of the baking sheets halfway through baking (from top to bottom and front to back), until the edges of the cookies have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes. (Resist the urge to bake the cookies longer than indicated; they may appear underbaked at first but will firm up as they cool.) Cool the cookies on the sheets about 10 minutes, slide the parchment with the cookies onto a wire rack, and cool to room temperature; remove with a wide metal spatula (or my greedy, greedy hands were all I needed).