It’s Not Complicated Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I’d never really considered myself a hooker-upper, a one night stander, a go to a bar get a little tipsy makeout with a guy in public-er.

I was either firmly single – I’m talking convent style, no action, nothing OR devoted girlfriend – going steady, super exclusive, impressing parents, tight-lipped pecks in the park.

I never explored that in between space that my female friends sometimes whisper about and my guy friends scratch their heads over. The ever elusive, the white whale, the successful friends with benefits arrangement. DUN DUN DUN.

But last winter I found myself single and ready to mingle in New York City. So I reconnected with an old friend and we embarked on a brief but enjoyable journey of booty calls and noncommittal horsing around.

On one particular night, I was in my apartment, pajama clad, Harry Potter on TV, baking cookies and thinking nothing of it. I couldn’t sleep so I took to the kitchen as I frequently do.

Then came the text, the shout out into the night, “What are you up to?”

Now people – call me naive but at the time I didn’t know that when a guy asks a girl “what are you up to” after 2:00am – it means “let’s get down.” But now, as Drake has taught us, “I know when that hotline bling, that can only mean one thing.”

I told him I was baking cookies in pajamas and invited him to join. He showed up pleasantly drunk – like “after work drinks drunk” – not “I have a problem and deep seeded confidence issues drunk.”  Just sauced enough to hoist me on to my kitchen counter and enthusiastically kiss me while I had a spatula in hand and cookie batter smeared on my face.

As sheet pans clattered and cookies flew, I remember wondering, “why does friends with benefits have such a bad rep?” This was potentially one of the loveliest hookups of my short existence. I didn’t have to put makeup on, there were cookies literally everywhere, he smelled like an appealing combination of expensive beer and melted chocolate. We kissed, we laughed, we ate cookies, and not once did we think, “what are we, should we date?”

Sometimes he stayed, sometimes he left. Sometimes we made out, sometimes we didn’t. Perfect. Simple. Easy. Transition… Just like whipping up a batch of these cookies.

The only thing complicated about these cookies is that I get a little… excited… when I make them. Call it a Pavlovian response or something. Otherwise, baking them, eating them, sharing them, is a total breeze. So make a batch and give it to someone sexy, let your hair down (well, after they are made) and enjoy the uncomplicated pleasures of life, like mackin’ with a handsome gentleman on your kitchen counter. And finally, if ever someone texts you at 2:00am saying, “what are you up to?” know that, “baking cookies,” ain’t a bad response.

Hollah!

Whether it’s 2am or 2pm these cookies start the same. Get your ingredients out. (Full list below.)

Cream together your butter and sugar.

Add your eggs, vanilla, and salt. You might not see them but I promise the little vanilla beans are in there! Would I lie?

Okay, honestly.. it looks like a hot mess. But sometimes being a hot mess is okay.

Add your dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.

Aw good, it’s pretty again.

Fold your chocolate chunks in with a spatula.

Using a 1 inch ice cream scoop place little mounds of dough about 2 inches apart on a lined sheet tray.

Place your cookies in a 350° F oven for 10 – 12 minutes, turning the pan halfway through the baking time, until just browned around the edges.

I can’t tell you what will happen next. Maybe a cute guy will text you at 2am and you’ll share a batch. Maybe you’ll eat a tray of cookies alone while watching Blackfish for the 30th time (that whale murdered those people!!!) Either way, they are delicious!