I made these at the beginning of the first lockdown, and although my largest bowl was barely large enough to hold the full batch, they gave me so much joy those few weeks in solitude.

The recipe calls for a whole 36 hours of rest in the fridge, which was really difficult for this impatient cook to adhere to, so I made sure to bake the dough after a few hours of rest, after 24 hours and finally after 36 hours. All in the name of research, of course. And this highly scientific empirical study showed that the dough that had rested the longest in the fridge indeed made the best cookie. So have patience, my friends!

Also in the name of research, I made sure to microwave a few balls of cookie dough until gooey and heavenly and ate with vanilla ice cream. Highly recommend!

Please note that the recipe below has been halved, to easier fit our medium sized mixing bowls. Just double it if you want the full batch. I would recommend making two smaller batches though – easier on the arms (when mixing) and on the tummy, as these are really difficult to resist!

A final tip; instead of baking them all immediately, I froze a few dough balls and kept in my freezer for when I wanted still warm cookies (is there anything better than those bits of melted chocolate?!) straight from the oven, which I have to admit was quite often…

The ABSOLUTE best chocolate chip cookies, makes about 20 cookies

Adapted from David Leite’s (phenomenal) recipe.

410 ml plain flour

3/5 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

140 g unsalted butter, softened

145 ml light brown sugar

130 ml caster sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

280 g chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa, chopped

sea salt

Mix flour, bicarb, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.

In another bowl, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and mix well. Stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients bit by bit while stirring. Add the chocolate and mix well. Press cling film against the dough and refrigerate for 24-36 hours.

To bake, pre-heat the oven to 175C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop dough onto the baking sheet, pressing down on chocolate pieces sticking up. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18-20 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.