Crispy, Creamy Chocolate Cookies

It’s no surprise around our house that when I get ready to bake cookies, it usually means I’m craving chocolate. True, I sometimes distract myself by making other kinds of cookies, but every time I take a test-nibble of a freshly-baked gingersnap, shortbread or snickerdoodle all I can think is how much better they'd be if only I'd thrown a scoop of cocoa or a handful of some chocolate chunks in the dough.

I tell myself that responding to my brain’s internal cry for some dark, sweet chocolate has some kind of medicinal effect on me - at least if seems that way, because I always feel a lot better after consuming some.

I flagged the page with this chocolate cookie recipe - adapted from one by French pastry master Pierre Herme - from Peggy Knickerbocker’s cookbook Simple Soirees. Not only did the name of this recipe call out to me with the words “chocolate” “crispy” and “creamy”, but I liked the idea of an icebox cookie; you can make the dough a few days ahead (or up to 3 months if you freeze it) and simply slice off what you need and then bake.



But, cookie bakers beware – the original recipe as printed in the book is incorrect!

I came this close to making a big chocolate mess of good cultured Plugra butter and pricey Sharffen Berger chocolate. When I mixed up the dough – right after adding the 1/4 cup flour called for, I had a soft blob of chocolate-flavored butter that I knew would never bake up into a respectable cookie. I decided to do a little research before baking.

After a brief Google search, I found a review by Ann Ellenbecker on the Powell’s Books website along with a corrected version of the recipe – yes, there should be 1 cup PLUS 1/4 flour in there!

Phew. Baking Disaster averted.

The cookies turned out just fine, although the dough does crumble a bit when slicing and I’d describe them as more crispy than creamy - mine were soft inside, but not really moist enough to be called creamy. But they are sweetly, demurely, bite-sized - perfect for those private feed-the-craving moments.

Do you want to win a trip for two to Napa Valley? I do too! Enter the Death by Chocolate Contest over at Culinate starting February 4 through February 8. Vote for your favorite chocolate post (mine would be nice) and at the same time YOU are entered in the sweepstakes. Fingers crossed...

Vote for me in the Death by Chocolate contest!


Crispy Creamy Chocolate Cookies
adapted slightly from Peggy Knickerbocker

1/3 cup excellent-quality cocoa powder such as Scharffen Berger * see note
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or fleur de sel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces excellent-quality bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

Sift together the cocoa powder, baking soda, and flour. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer, cream the butter until smooth, add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and blend again.

Add the salt and vanilla and blend for about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on the lowest speed until the ingredients are incorporated. The dough will be crumbly. Stir in the chopped chocolate.

Turn the dough onto a work surface. Press the mixture together with your hands, forming a ball. Cut the ball in half and work each half into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap each log in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (You can enclose in foil and freeze the logs for up to 3 months - thaw slightly before slicing)

Preheat the oven to 325° F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.

Slice the logs into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Place the rounds on the baking sheets, 1 inch apart. If the cookies break apart, press them back together.

Bake one sheet at a time for 12 minutes. The cookies will not be firm nor appear to be done. Remove them from the oven and let them cool on the sheet on a wire rack until they are barely warm. Store the cookies in an airtight container.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

* The original recipe calls for sweetened cocoa powder; I didn't have any, so I increased the amount of granulated sugar from 1/4 to 1/3 cup.

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Maida Heatter's Chocolate Whoppers

My favorite cookie is a Whopper

A long while ago, I lived in Miami and spent a few years working at a wine store; tasting, spitting, not spitting (a job perk), unloading cases of wine and every once in a while selling wine to customers.

One of my clients was none other than Maida Heatter, renowned cookbook writer and baker. She lived (and probably still does) in Miami Beach and would come in periodically to stock up on wine and gourmet goodies. She had a sweetly disarming way about her; she'd usually bring in some of her cellophane-wrapped homemade cookies for us to sample.

When we'd swoon with delight and thank her profusely she'd yell, "Honey, I can't hear you, I'm deaf as a post. Now where's that chardonnay I bought last time?"

I hope that she's been outfitted with one of those high-tech hearing aids these days, because if she were listening I'd tell her, loudly, about how I've been collecting her cookbooks and using her delicious, never-fail recipes for cookies and sweets for years and years now. I just love her.

In fact, my most favorite cookie is Maida's Chocolate Whopper, a big, fat, brownie-like confection with a crisp, shiny top and a moist, dark and nutty chocolate interior worthy of the word "devilish".

They come together in minutes, and all you need to do is drop blobs of the batter onto baking sheets.

You will be very popular if you make these and then give them to people. Just keep a few for yourself, too.

Check out everything Maida at Squidoo Food, Anna's Whoppers at Cookie Madness, and Mondays with Maida over at My Little Kitchen.

Chocolate Whoppers

Makes about 15 large cookies

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 ounces chocolate chips
1 cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
1 cup walnut halves, broken into large pieces (or use all pecans; I do because I’m not a walnut fan)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the chopped chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat and stir until gently until just melted.

Whisk the flour in a small bowl with salt and baking powder. Beat the eggs, sugar, espresso and vanilla in a large bowl using an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Mix in the chocolate mixture until just blended. Add the flour mixture and beat at low speed until incorporated. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.

Use a 1/3-cup measure to form the dough and drop onto baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart.

Bake 17 minutes on the upper and middle racks, or until the tops are dry and shiny, shifting the sheets halfway through baking. Slide the parchment with cookies onto wire racks to cool completely.

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Toasted Almond Button Cookies

The one-bite cookie

I saw this Holiday Cookie Guide in the Washington Post the other day and was totally impressed. I loved the clean, crisp look of the layout as well as the subject - 26 cookie recipes each with their own simple, appealing photo.

But, I did what I always do when browsing for cookie recipes; I skipped right over those that required rolling, cutting or decorating. I have something resembling a small panic attack, probably much like the one that some people get when they attempt to make pie pastry – it’s a combination of fear (of sticky, messy dough) and impatience (with anything requiring fussing with).

My kids still love me, I think. But I imagine they would love me more if I would make some decorated gingerbread people to hang from the tree. Maybe I’ll look into a 12-step program to move me through the process of my cookie dough anxiety.

In the meantime, these cute almond cookie buttons called out to me. They’re require nothing more complicated than the easy pinch and roll method, you can make the dough up to 5 days ahead and they contain lots of ground, toasted almonds. I love toasted almonds!

When I make these again, I'll use hazelnuts instead, and top them with some warm chocolate-hazelnut spread, like Nutella.

I was invited to a cookie swap at my friend Alanna’s and had to make 10 dozen cookies to share. How convenient for me. I made them.

I’m kind of on a cookie bender right now, so bear with me for a bit. This week I’ll be sharing some of my all-time favorite cookie recipes (no rolling required, promise).

Toasted Almond Buttons
makes about 60 cookies

from the Washington Post

• 2 cups whole, skin-on almonds, toasted (see NOTE)
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) plus 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 ounces semisweet chocolate

Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Finely grind 1 cup of the almonds in a food processor or blender and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, confectioners' sugar and salt. Use your hands to thoroughly work in 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) of the butter and the vanilla and almond extracts until a soft dough forms (it should not crumble).

Transfer to a resealable plastic food storage bag and refrigerate until well chilled (at least 20 minutes) or up to 5 days. Use the palms of your hands to roll the dough into 1/2-inch balls. Place on the baking sheets; spray the back of a small-size melon baller with nonstick cooking oil spray and use it to indent the top of each ball, holding the edges of the dough together as you work (if the edges crack, blend them back together).

Bake 1 sheet at a time for about 15 minutes, until the cookies begin to brown. Transfer them carefully to a wire rack to cool.

Meanwhile, place the chocolate and the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter in a small metal mixing bowl and suspend the bowl over a saucepan containing an inch or two of very hot water over medium heat. When the chocolate and butter have melted, stir to combine. Use a spoon to drizzle a small amount of chocolate into the indentation of each cookie. Top each with one of the remaining whole almonds. Let set completely before storing.

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Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies with a Twist

Spoon Cookies filled with Chocolate

A while back, I clipped this cookie recipe from Gourmet magazine, filed it away and forgot about it.
But in a fit of house cleaning, which is ongoing and never ending, I found the recipe in a crumpled pile under some old notebooks and 3rd grade homework. Before sticking the page in the recycling bin, though, I went over to Epicurious and added it to my online recipe box.

(And just to digress for one second, is anyone else as irritated with the "new and improved" Epi as I am? What was wrong with the old one? Now I sit and twiddle my fingers waiting for the pages to load and the annoying little pop-ups to go away.)

As much as I enjoy having some quiet time flipping through my favorite food magazines, they multiply like mold spores and I never seem to catch up. I make a mental note to remember a certain page or recipe, which everyone over the age 35 knows is a bad idea. All those notes end up in a dusty corner of my mommy brain, lost forever.

Since I'm still in the gather-it-up-and-get-rid-of-it stage ever since The Big Flood, I'm liking the idea of flagging favorite recipes and menus on sites like Epi and My Recipes. They pretty much have every recipe that's been published in the last decade available for free, so there's no need for me to stockpile issues in the basement, where I trip over them. I even bought new recipe organizing software that allows me to import recipes and their swell photos. I know! I'm all 21st century now.

Anyway, I'm glad I saved this one since they were so simple and fun to make. This is basically a shortbread dough made with brown butter, which is the secret to their extraordinary flavor. I love the little nut-like bits of browned butter in the baked cookie, too.

These seem to be fairly unusual; in my brief search for similiar cookies, all I found was one in a cookbook by Beatrice Ojakangas, The Great Scandinavian Baking Book. She calls them Finnish Teaspoon Cookies.

I chose to fill these with chocolate because, why not? My second choice would be some good apricot jam.

Cook butter until it turns the color of golden honey

Form cookies with a deep-bowled spoon

Spoon Cookies

2 sticks (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt, slightly rounded
Chocolate ganache * or fruit preserves

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over moderate heat. Cook 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the butter turns golden, smells nutty, and flecks on bottom of pan turn deep caramel brown. A thick foam will form and cover the surface just before butter begins to brown - keep close attention and stir more frequently.

Pour the butter into a medium bowl set into a larger bowl of ice to stop cooking. Stir frequently until butter appears emulsified and opaque, about 3 minutes. Stir in sugar and vanilla.

Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl; add to butter and stir until a dough forms. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and let stand at room temperature 1 or 2 hours.

Place oven rack in middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.

Pinch off a piece of dough and press firmly into the bowl of a teaspoon. Slide the dough off the spoon and place flat-side down on an ungreased cookie sheet. Continue forming cookies and arrange on sheet. Bake until very pale golden, 12-15 minutes. Cool cookies on a rack 5 minutes before transfering to a rack to cool completely.

Spread cookies with soft, spreadable chocolate ganache or warmed preserves.

Makes about 2 dozen sandwich cookies.

Chocolate Ganache

8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat cream just to a simmer, then pour over chocolate. Stir gently until smooth.



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