Ask anyone with a sweet tooth what’s their fancy and without hesitation they can tell you what’s their weakness.
For some it’s anything caramel. Others are lemon or orange obsessed . Some find vanilla to be their undoing. Another contingent adore riding the sweet-salty roller coaster (with butter and nuts often playing prominent roles).
But for many, it’s chocolate.
I’m on Team Dark Chocolate. Oliver likes milk chocolate and Charlotte white chocolate, so when I came across a recipe that delivers all of the above in a promised fudgy package, I was all in.
I stumbled upon the recipe in this book.
It’s a new addition to my shelf and I like the thoughtfulness of the notes. The author expends a lot of energy on what’s unique about the recipe and how to ensure its success.
Far too few cookbook authors talk about the importance of when to pull a cookie out of the oven and how to tell when it’s ready. They often mention a range of cooking times, and novice bakers will rely simply on these guidelines, but not on observation.
Knowing when is important.
Ovens are different. Baking sheets will alter cooking times, too. How cold the batter is will also dictate cooking times.
In this recipe Ms. Yard says that if the cookies still look a little wet or shiny, just let them go a tiny bit more as that means that there is still some moisture yet to evaporate.
As soon as they look dry, she tells you to touch a top of the cookie. If it’s fairly firm, and your fingerpoint bounces back, pull them out immediately. The cookies will keep firming up out of the oven and overbaked chocolate cookies have a diminished flavor.
She quotes Christopher Kimball’s Dessert Bible: “Always err on the side of too little oven time when making chocolate cookies.”
In the case of this cookie, a little gooeyness in your cookie is wonderful.
So I assembled the ingredients.
No big surprises here, but using cold butter (instead of room temp as in most chocolate chip cookies) was more unusual; most cookie recipes either start with room temperature or sometimes melted butter.
Easy enough.
I started with two kinds of chocolate chips for the cookie batter.
Semi-sweet.
And white chocolate chips.
I like sifting the dry ingredients together so that a chunk of cocoa powder or clump of baking soda doesn’t end up in the batter.
It only takes a minute and I think it really makes a difference.
The batter was easy to pull together, and then I divided it into two logs and refrigerated until firm.
An hour or so later, I cut into 1 inch pieces and put the tray into a preheated 350 degree oven.
Give these little rascals lots of room on the cookie sheet — they’re going to spread out more than you might think.
When they were about one minute from being done, I pulled out some dark chocolate chips and small milk chocolate chunks and prepared them for a last minute addition to the cookie.
I love a cookie that has chocolate melted in but also has some that is still soft and molten, and to do this you need to add the chocolate in at different times.
I think using different chocolates adds to the interest level of the cookie, too.
One more minute in the oven and they were done.
Check them out firming up on the cookie sheet.
Sigh.
Mama always gets the first one.
This cookie reminds me of a brownie — gooey, dark and fudgy with a slight crispiness on the edges.
I will make this cookie again soon– only next time I think I’ll replace a couple tablespoons of the flour for more cocoa (punching up the darkness of it).
I’ll also omit the white chocolate and decrease the amount of milk chocolate in favor of quite a bit more dark chocolate chunks (but if you’re a fan of either, by all means go with those).
Either way, this cookie is the love child of a chocolate chip cookie and a brownie.
And on the counter awaiting kids from school, this looks like a big old tray of happy.
- 1½ C. all purpose flour
- 2 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder (I would double that next time)
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ¼ lb. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces
- ½ C. plus 2 Tbs. granulated sugar
- ½ C. plus 2 Tbs. tightly packed brown sugar
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- ½ C. ½ inch chunks of white chocolate
- ½ C. ½ inch chunks bittersweet chocolate
- (Note: I also added about 1 C. dark chocolate chips and 1 C. milk chocolate chunks to cookies in the last minute of cooking. Next time I think I would use a total of about 3 C. chocolate, mostly dark with some semi-sweet for a darker, more intensely chocolate-y cookie, still leaving some of that chocolate for atop for that last minute goo factor)
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda into a medium bowl and set aside.
- Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed until pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and paddle. Add the sugar, brown sugar, salt and vanilla. Cream on medium speed until it is smooth and lump free, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle.
- Add the egg and beat on low speed for 15 seconds, or until fully incorporated. Do not overbeat. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and paddle.
- On low speed, add the flour mixture. Beat until all the dry ingredients are incorporated, 15 to 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the white and bittersweet chunks and mix until they are just incorporated. If using a hand mixer, use a wooden spoon to stir them in.
- If you want to bake these right away, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Adjust the rack to the lower third of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (I used Silpat). Spoon the dough by heaped teaspoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets.
- If not baking right away, remove small handfuls of dough from the mixter and plop them down the middle of a sheet of parchment paper, creating a log about 2 inches wide and 12 inches long.
- Fold the parchment over, creating a sausage. Chill for at least 1 hour. At the point the dough will keep nicely, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 1 month. (Thaw frozen dough at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or until you can slice it.)
- When the dough has chilled, remove it from the parchment. Using a serrated knife, slice ⅓ inch thick rounds off the log. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake one sheet at a time for 12 - 15 minutes, or until the cookies look dry and firm, turning the sheet front to back halfway through the baking. Remove the sheet from the oven and carefully slide the parchment directly onto a work surface. Wait at least 5 minutes before serving or 20 minutes before storing in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.
Making these today!!
I hate that I am reading this at the pool in Wauchula, Florida! If I were home in Bethesda, I would jump in my car and head out for the ingredients!
Elizabeth
And if you were in Portland right now, I’d be happy to share this counter largesse with you 🙂
I’d like to make these but I’m a little confused. You show semi sweet and white chocolate chips going into the dough, (no bittersweet) but you only list the 1 cup amount for the white chips. Would that mean there was an equal 1 cup of the semi sweet as shown in the 6th picture down? Then you stuck what amount would you estimate of the remaining two chocolates on top of the cookies?? My confusion is the
difference between what you show, list on the recipe, and mention in the directions. Help!
My bad that I forgot to mention in the body of the recipe the alterations I talked about above; I tend to share the recipe as written but I can see how it can be confusing if someone cares to follow my alterations. I think recipe should be cleared up now; I recommend a total of 2-3 cups total, saving at least 1/3 that for atop in that last minute of cookie. You decide the kind of chocolate you like and the degree of chips you like in your cookie; others might see my amounts excessive but what’s the point of a reasonable cookie? I say go big or go home. Thanks for chiming in!
Delicious – topped with m&m’s, cut up riesen candy and choc chips. Were gone in an afternoon!