Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter (or margarine) - room temperature
• 1 cup superfine sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs

Instructions

 After spending the day venturing around the U of M campus (a possible photo diary coming soon?), my friend and I came back home and decided to bake something out of a recipe book that my mom had stored away for a while. After sifting through the book, named 500 Fabulous Cakes and Bakes, we tried out the recipe for the 'Chunky Chocolate Drops', and we loved them. So, I thought I'd document them and share them with you!

note - we did adapt the recipe slightly to fit our taste and what was in my pantry, but you can find the original recipe in the book I mentioned above.

Yields about 18 large cookies

• 6 ounces cup semi-sweet chocolate (we just used semi-sweet chocolate chips)
• 1/2 cup sweet butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 4 ounces find quality milk chocolate (chopped into 1/4-inch pieces)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease two large baking sheets.
2. Melt semisweet chocolate and butter until smooth, stirring frequently. (Either do this in a bowl over simmering water in a pan, or in 15-second intervals in the microwave - stirring between each interval). Remove from heat to cool slightly.
3. Beat eggs and sugar for 2-3 minutes until creamy. Gradually beat in the melted chocolate mixture. Beat in the flour, cocoa, baking powder, vanilla, and salt. Add chocolate chips and chocolate pieces.
4. Drop 2 heaped spoonfuls of the mixture onto each baking sheet (about 4 inches apart) and flatten each round to about 3 inches.
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until tops are shiny and cracked and edges look crisp.
6. Transfer baking sheets to wire rack to cool for about 2 minutes, until cookies are just set. Then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. 

A few days ago my friend and I decided to go on a little photography adventure to a near-by lake and take advantage of the beautiful rose garden there. I'm typically not one for flower pictures, but I loved taking pictures of those roses - despite the fact that many of them were not as lively as they perhaps were in the spring. After wandering the gardens for a little bit, however, we ventured into a section of the area that we'd never been to before, which included a gorgeous miniature waterfall. We ended up spending the majority of our time there, and then spent a few minutes at the lake across the road. Afterwards, we took a detour and bought some ice cream at one of my favorite ice cream places - a lovely end to a lovely day!