BOUCHON BAKERY-STYLE DARK DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIPPERS

Unintended consequences.

Most people might think you get a new dog and you’re suddenly more active.

But they haven’t met me — or Porter either, for that matter. He’s an absolute doll  but he’s currently in need of a lot of TLC and a quiet, steady existence. So consequently we’re spending a lot of time in my kitchen, just hanging out.

What that means though is that instead of added steps to my routine, there’s been a lot of added treats; my need to be home-bound more means that I’m cooking and baking even more than usual while I facilitate Porter getting potty-trained and settled.

Which means a lot of teacher treats coming out of my kitchen.

And neighbor drop-offs (who can resist a fluffy buttermilk biscuit?).

And I’ve had a few girlfriends over for lunch.

This is new pal Abby Bliss.

She’s someone I’ve known in passing for years but Instagram brought us back together and I had her over for lunch this week. She’s so talented and very interesting; she’s a life coach, nutritional and detox guru and brand ambassador for Athleta brand.

Check out her website to see some of the fascinating things she’s up to.

She’s also a hoot and we had a wonderful time talking food, dogs and our boys soon going off to college.

I made her a couple different wheat berry salads

plus spiced Israeli Feta

and time flew as we gabbed and grazed. Less than two hours together, it felt like we’ve known each other forever.

Knowing that Abby was coming over to my house, I’d made her a very special dessert to bring home to her family.

I decided to go with one I’ve baked three times in the last ten days because it’s such a slam-dunk, knock-out-of-the-ballpark, touchdown cookie.

In a word, these cookies are dreamboats. And I can’t wait to share them with you.

Meet Bouchon Bakery-Style Dark Double Chocolate Chippers.

The recipe comes from this cookbook, one I picked up from my library and been salivating over for weeks.

This recipe is a knock-off of a cookie from the famous Bouchon Bakery in Napa (regrettably I never made it there but have heard raves about this Thomas Keller institution) and it deploys the best quality unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder and gourmet-quality chocolate chunks and morsels.

The recipe says that you can use either semi-sweet or bittersweet but I used about 25% of the former and the majority of the latter as I don’t like my cookies too sweet.

I do, however, like my cookies absurdly chocolaty, and these deliver a fudgy, brownie-like intensity with a very delicate crumb.

And the good news is that they are fairly easy to make.

Sift the cocoa powder and flour and then mix the baking powder in.

Gather your wet ingredients.

Don’t forget all that chocolate!

When you pull it all together (recipe will follow), your dough should look like this.

I shaped the dough into logs onto wax paper; I used a ruler to roughly shape them into oblong rolls that resemble slice-and-bake logs.

I find this is a time saver as scooping out so many balls can be tedious — and it also saves a lot of room in the freezer.

What I also did (which is completely optional, of course) is expose one side of the dark log and sprinkle it liberally with great salt (mine is from Bitterman, a local company that also owns The Meadow, one of my favorite shops in Portland).

I then finished wrapping the dough logs in paper and then cut them in half so they’d fit easily in my Ziploc bag.

Here’s what the dough looks like.

This dough is so inky and chocolaty and while these logs were a little soft at this point, I threw them all in the freezer in a bag to firm them up and reserve some of them for later use.

Now I can make these amazing cookies on demand and at a drop of a hat.

Think about that– amazing cookies can be yours in minutes. Just preheat the oven, slice and bake.

If you do as I do and slice them straight out of the freezer, cut the logs firmly with a serrated knife– you will need that edge to cut through the pieces of chocolate in the dough.

Your slices (be they rounds or rectangles or whatever shape and size you fancy), will look something like this.

And if you’ve managed not to eat all the cookie batter raw (and trust me, it’s really really tasty!), your baked cookies will look like this.

I tend to make them on the smaller size as they are very decadent and I also like them slightly underbaked to preserve that fudgy goodness.

Do you need more proof that you should stop whatever you’re doing and make up a batch of these cookies right now?

Okay, but don’t say you weren’t warned.

Productivity be damned– these cookies are goddesses, and demand both worship and adoration.

I’ve shared these cookies with probably a dozen people this week and they all universally agree.

They’re show-stoppers.

So who in your world could use a batch?

I suspect whomever does receive these will be a guaranteed fan for life.

(My little friend was denied these — but not to worry, I made up for it with a fried egg.)

So make these. NOW.

Enjoy!

BOUCHON BAKERY STYLE DARK DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIPPERS

 

Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

The author cautions against using either just chunks or morsels -- the combination is optimal, ensuring that your cookies are neither too thin or too soft. She also recommends staying within the range of cacao percent (and that presented no problem for me). ENJOY.

Author: Nancy Baggett

Recipe type: cookie

Serves: 16 cookies

Ingredients

• ¾ C. unbleached all-purpose white flour
• ½ C. plus 1 Tbs. good-quality Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted after measuring if lumpy
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 10 Tbs. (1¼ sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened and cut into chunks
• ⅔ C. packed dark brown sugar
• 2 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. molasses
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 3½ oz. 55 to 70 perscent cacao semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped into morsel-sized chunks (generous ½ C.)
• ⅔ C. gourmet-quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate morsels (do not substitute chocolate chunks)

Instructions

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven: preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several large baking sheets with baking parchment.
2. In a medium bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
3. In a mixing on medium speed, beat the butter until well blended and smooth, about 1 minute.
4. Add the brown and granulated sugars, molasses, and vanilla; beat until thoroughly incorporated and the mixture is well blended. Beat in the egg until thoroughly incorporated. Add the flour mixture, beating or stirring, just until evenly incorporated. Stir in the chopped chocolate and chocolate morsels.
5. If the dough seems soft, let it stand to firm up for 5 to 10 minutes (in fridge).
6. If the dough is crumbly, gradually mix in a teaspoon or two of water until it holds together.
7. On a sheet of wax paper, with well-greased hands, divide it in half. Then shape each half into 8 or 9 balls, spacing about 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. With a lightly greased palm, press down until the balls just slightly flatten.
8. Bake (middle rack) one sheet at at time for 8 to 11 minutes, just until the cookies are beginning to feel firm when pressed at the edges; be very careful not to overbake. Transfer to a wire rack and let stand for 3 or 4 minutes. Transfer the cookies to racks and let cool completely.

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