Double Chocolate Refrigerator Cookies

Slice-and-bake chocolate cookies with melted chocolate folded into the dough plus extra mini chips for the double-chocolate name. Roll the dough into logs, chill, then slice and bake whenever the cookie craving hits. The dough keeps in the fridge for up to 10 days or in the freezer for 2 months, which makes this a smart bake-ahead for hosts who hate scrambling at the last minute.

The pinch of cinnamon is the secret. A quarter teaspoon isn’t enough to taste cinnamon directly, but it adds a faint warmth that makes the chocolate read deeper and richer. Mexican-style hot chocolate uses the same trick.

The melted semi-sweet chocolate in the dough does what cocoa powder alone can’t. Cocoa gives chocolate flavor, but melted chocolate adds richness, body, and the fudgy texture that turns these from ordinary chocolate cookies into proper chocolate cookies.

Pro Tips

• Chill the rolls until truly firm before slicing. Soft dough squishes into ovals instead of clean rounds
• Use a sharp knife and rotate the log a quarter turn between cuts to keep slices uniformly round
• Melt the chocolate gently, either over a double boiler or in 20-second microwave bursts. Scorched chocolate seizes
• Pull the cookies when they look just barely set. They keep cooking on the hot pan and crisp up as they cool

Variations

• Roll the chilled dough logs in chopped pecans, almonds, or sprinkles before slicing for decorated edges
• Add a teaspoon of instant espresso powder to deepen the chocolate flavor without making the cookies taste like coffee
• Substitute white chocolate chips for half the semi-sweet for a black-and-white cookie effect