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Choice A: You are trying to impress a crowd with your baking abilities.

Choice B: You are looking for a treat a couple steps up from a chocolate chip cookie

Choice C: You want your friends and family to be chunkier than thou.

Whatever it is, these decadent cookie sandwiches will roll eyes back into heads and bring out the moans. Adding toasted chopped walnuts or pecans enhances the crunchiness and texture of a simple chocolate chip cookie. And as always, go for the extra dark chocolate.. the good stuff. Milk chocolate is like the gogurt of chocolate varieties: of lesser quality and sophistication, it belongs in the freezer for children under a certain age.

Be sure to indulge yourself with one while its still hot and the chocolate is still gooey. Mmm… warm, melted chocolate, perfect cookie crunch, toasted nuts, gooey center… shall I go on?

Ingredients:
About 1 cup walnuts or pecans
1 cup and a big pinch flour
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
3/4 of a stick of butter, or 1 whole stick if you’re feeling dangerous
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
About 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
For the filling:
About 4 oz bittersweet chocolate from a baking bar, broken up
5 tbsp heavy cream (you can use light cream if you’re feeling guilty)
2 1/2 tbsp light corn syrup

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Toast the nuts for 6-8 minutes, careful not to burn.

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugars at medium speed until combined, about a minute. Beat in the egg. At the lowest speed, beat in the dry ingredients a little at a time. I tap it against the bowl, allowing small bits to drift in gradually, and let each small bit mix in before continuing to add more. Beat in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Spoon whichever size of the dough you please onto 2 baking sheets (you can opt for parchment paper or you can put them directly on the sheet). Just make sure they are far enough apart so that they won’t join at the hips while baking. Refrigerate for at least a half hour, until firm.

Now for the filling: In a small saucepan, bring the corn syrup and cream to a boil. Add the chocolate and let stand for one minute. Whisk until smooth. Refrigerate the filling, stirring occasionally, until thick and spreadable (about an hour).

Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes, depending on your oven and the size of your cookies, until they are golden. Let cool on the sheets for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

When the cookies are COMPLETELY cool, spread the filling over one side and sandwich them together. Don’t try this while they are still hot or they will break.

As tempting as it is, don’t eat the batter. Raw eggs will put you out of the running before the cookies even rise.