Saturday, January 11, 2020

Chocolatey Chocolate Cookies


I LOVE cookies and Chocolate. Lately I have LOVED Dark Dark chocolate... Not really into Milk chocolate these days --it's just too sweet. I saw this recipe on Bon Appetit one day and just HAD to try them out for some of my Christmas cookies this year. You can find the original recips Here but I changed mine just a bit. Just used different chocolate. I did half a dark dark chocolate bar and half dark chocolate chips. I have the Cacao %'s below in the recipe. Feel free to change to what ever you have or like. I also always use salted butter and cut back the Salt in the recipe to take that into account.  These were a great cakey cookie and Chocolatey. Perfect to counter balance the sugar cookies I made as well. Enjoy!

Chocolatey Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients:

2 large eggs
2 -2-oz. bittersweet chocolate bars (preferably 65%–75% cacao) I used a Ghirardelli 86% cacao chocolate bar —I love dark chocolate
1 cup dark Chocolate Chips (the highest % of cacao you can find--mine were 53% Cacao) Set aside about 1/4 cup to place on top of cookie dough balls.
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1⅔ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
⅓ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
¾ cup (packed) dark brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla paste or extract

Directions: 

Hint: Your 2 large eggs need to be at room temperature for this recipe. If they aren’t, put them in a small bowl and cover them with hot tap water. This’ll bring them up to speed quickly.

Coarsely chop 2- 2-oz. chocolate bars. You want them to be bigger than normal chocolate chips (aim for 3–4 times the size)—this creates the chocolate puddles. Set aside. 

Cut 2 sticks butter into large pieces. Cook in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring often, until it foams, then browns, 7–9 minutes. (Watch carefully since browned butter goes from brown to black in the blink of an eye.) Immediately scrape into a large bowl and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

While butter cools, whisk 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour and 1 tsp. baking soda in a medium bowl to combine. Press ⅓ cup cocoa powder through a fine-mesh sieve into bowl (this eliminates those pesky lumps), then whisk again to combine.
Add ¾ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar, and 1 tsp. kosher salt to browned butter. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, stir vigorously to combine. Add 1 large egg and whisk vigorously until incorporated, about 1 minute. Repeat with remaining 1 large egg, then whisk in 1 Tbsp. vanilla paste or extract
Switch back to your spatula or spoon to stir in dry ingredients just to combine. Mix in the 2 chopped chocolate bars and 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips. (Remember to save some to place on top of cookie balls before baking. I saved about a 1/4 cup)
***Let dough sit at room temperature at least 1 hour to let flour and cocoa hydrate. The dough will thicken as it sits. DON’T SKIP THIS STEP!

Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 375°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Shape dough into ping-pong sized balls (about 3 Tbsp.). Arrange on prepared baking sheets, spacing about 3" apart. Lightly press a 3 or 4  of remaining chocolate chips on top of each dough ball.
Bake cookies, until edges are just set but centers are still soft, 8–10 minutes. Don’t over bake!! I baked mine for 8 and they were perfect.
Remove from oven and carefully tap pan on stovetop to deflate and flatten cookies. Let cool on baking sheets 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Or eat warm…. who can resist a warm cookie!
Serve and enjoy!

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