Baking Recipes

01 Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies

by Ellen Jackson

I like to make these small-about the size of a silver dollar-and sandwich a little scoop of ice cream or a dollop of marshmallow cream between two. But there's no need to gild the lily: these cookies are rich and fudgy, with a brownie-like texture that's satisfying on its own. Be sure to use a good dark chocolate with a higher cacao percentage (at least 60 percent) for less sweetness and a more intense flavor.

Ingredients:
4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
14 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, divided
3 eggs, room temperature
4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Steps:
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a double boiler, or a metal bowl suspended over a pot of barely simmering water, melt the butter and 14 cups of the chocolate, stirring occasionally until completely smooth. Remove the pot from the heat but leave the bowl suspended over the warm water.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or using a handheld electric mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla on high speed until slightly thickened and lemony yellow in color, about 3 minutes. Add the warm chocolate and butter, mixing on low speed just to combine; the batter should be streaky. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the dry ingredients until incorporated; the batter will be loose. Refrigerate the batter for 20 minutes. Finely chop the remaining 2 cup chocolate and mix into the batter. Continue to refrigerate the batter until it is stiff enough to scoop, about 2 hours.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using your hands or a 1-ounce scoop, form 1-inch balls of dough and place them on the baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, or until the cookies dome and the tops crack, and are no longer shiny. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

WITH A TWIST

Chewy White Chocolate Chunk Cookies (pictured):
Reduce the amount of bittersweet chocolate to 10 ounces. Add ½ cup finely chopped white baking chocolate or chips to the batter after refrigerating for about 20 minutes, or when it is no longer warm. Return the batter to the refrigerator for another 12 hours, or 2 hours total.

Chewy Chocolate-Mint Cookies:
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, whir the sugar with 2 cup fresh mint leaves. Sift the sugar through a sieve to remove the large pieces of mint leaf before beating with the eggs. Substitute ½ teaspoon mint extract for the vanilla extract.

Chewy Chocolate-Orange Cookies:
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, whir the sugar with the coarsely chopped zest of 1 orange (about 2 tablespoons). Beat with the eggs.

I commented this on caitisbugzz's book titled "✓ CRUSH CULTURE [ranboo]". Make sure to check it out! Have fun baking!
- Lizzie