Although these have the appearance of chocolate chip cookies, the advantage is that they are a lot lighter and more like a condensed Genoa-ish sponge— or Pound Cake— as well as being loaded with satisfyingly decent chunks of milk chocolate.

Makes 24 cakies.
Line two or four baking trays with parchment paper.  With four trays, the cakies will be able to spread more evenly or alternatively, two batches of two trays can be made. 

Otherwise the cakie dough can be kept covered in the fridge for 2-3 days and used to make the second batch— this is exactly what I used to do in Germany with the children being much younger and when time was of the essence:  Once, I recall, we had to go away on a trip at short notice and we offered some friends a place to stay while they were having some major work done on their house.  They were extremely grateful and made a great deal of fuss about how much they had enjoyed the tasty cakies that they had found in the fridge.  

Thankfully, they didn’t suffer any consequences from eating raw flour and eggs—I am relieved to say, particularly when there were young children involved.  

INGREDIENTS
Preheat the oven to 350º F (180º C)

8 oz (225 g) butter at room temperature 
7 oz (200 g) golden castor sugar
1 lb (454 g) unbleached plain flour
5 - 6 fl oz ( 125-150 ml) full cream milk
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda or baking soda
2 large organic eggs
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
Approximately 14-16 oz  (400-450 g) Belgian milk chocolate or equivalent
1/4 teaspoon salt

Roughly chop the butter in large mixing bowl.  Cream the sugar with the butter using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour with the salt and add this to the mix.  Using the hands, rub in the butter until the flour has a crumbly texture.

With a large blade, chop 5.5 oz (150 g) of the chocolate into chunks approximately 0.5 inch (1 cm) large.  Add these into the flour mix, stirring so that the chunks get an even floury coating.

Add the bicarbonate of soda to the milk in a jug and stir to mix evenly. 

Break the eggs into a small basin and add vanilla extract.  Beat until the eggs are light and fluffy – approximately 30 seconds.

Now make a well into the flour and chocolate mixture and pour in the eggs and vanilla, followed by the milk and bicarbonate of soda . Mix everything in together well.

Place six heaped dessertspoonfuls of the mixture onto each lined tray, leaving some space around them to expand.  

Now chop up the rest of the chocolate (4 oz or 130 g per 12 cakies) and press 4-6-plus large chunks mainly in and around the centre on each mound as the chocolate pieces will spread to the sides during baking.

Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes or until slightly golden.  Slide the parchment paper with cakies onto a cake rack and leave to cool.

When cold, the cakies can be stored in a wax or greasepaper lined tin.  But if these aren’t to be eaten straight away, wrap them individually in some wax paper, pop them into a large bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months.

They are especially great with morning coffee or a nice hot afternoon cuppa.

TIP FOR THE TOP

It is really best to bake these cakes at 350º F but they can be baked at 375º F (190º C) as I sometimes do when I’m in a hurry. Please bear in mind that they will need less baking time and watch to make sure that the undersides do not get dark too quickly—depending how evenly your oven cooks, some jiggling of trays may be necessary!