A long time ago, before Al Gore invented the Internet, I had a recipe for fancypants chocolate cookies that I ripped from a magazine. I can’t remember the name of the recipe. I can’t remember the name of the magazine. And I sure as hell can’t remember the name of the person that created it. The only thing I do remember is that it was a pain in the ass to make because one of the ingrediences (™ Teresa Giudice) is unsweetened baking chocolate. Who the fuck keeps that crap in their house? Not me, man (it’s not like I can eat it during a Hershey shortage – yeah, I’ve tried and yuck). I only buy it for this dumb cookie. I’m not too worried about giving proper credit to the originator of this recipe because I’ve changed it so much over the years that I can confidently claim this bad boy as my own. The only thing I never changed was the damn unsweetened baking chocolate because I was skeered. I figured if someone is willing to include that pain-in-the-ass baking chocolate it’s only because it’s supposed to be there. Timid baker, thy name is Nance.
I’ve been a cranky bitch for the last few days and I figure it’s because of the whore-moans. I always try to cure the whore-moans with chocolate. It never works, but I can’t stop trying because chocolate is the shits, yo! Since I needed a recipe for DCEP I figured I would break out the one with the most chocolate.
I know Robyn lines up all her ingredients like a goody-two-shoes, but puhleese. That would involve me being prepared and everybody needs to get real here. Robyn=goody-two-shoes. Nance=bad ass.
Of course I didn’t have that stupid unsweetened baking chocolate and no, I was not going to the store to get it. But I did find out something thanks to Chef Google. 3 tablespoons of Hershey’s cocoa combined with 1 tablespoon butter equals 1 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate. W0oT!
After you mix everything up, it will look like this. It’s supposed to be goopy. Trust me.
Make sure you use one of those silicon baking sheets or aluminum foil to put on your cookie sheet for baking. Learn from my mistakes.
- 12 oz. Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
- 4 oz. Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
- ¾ cup butter
- 4 large eggs
- 1-1/2 cup sugar
- 4 tsp. instant espresso powder (can substitute instant coffee powder)
- 4 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- ½ cup flour
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Line cookie sheet with silicon pad or aluminum foil
- Microwave 12 oz. chocolate chips, baking chocolate and butter on high 1 minute. Stir. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until mixture is melted and smooth.
- In another bowl beat eggs, sugar, espresso (or coffee) powder, vanilla, salt and baking powder on high for 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add chocolate mixture. Add flour and mix until blended. Add remaining ingredients.
- Drop by tablespoon unto cookie sheet. Dough will be gooey. Don't panic.
- Bake 12 to 14 minutes. Surface will be dry, shiny and cracked looking. Inside will be soft.
- Slide silicon sheet or foil off of cookie sheet and allow to cool before removing.
I make cookies a lot like this, and I’ve never bothered with unsweetened chocolate. I just use chocolate chips, and it’s fine.
Jules! Do you use extra chocolate chips or just skip that ingredient? How many would I use?
-nance
It’s been a few months since I made them, but I think I use a whole big bag. What’s that, about 24 ounces? I don’t mess around with this single batch nonsense. So I pull about a cup out of the bag to melt, and use the rest as chips. I’ll have to look at the recipe when I get home to be sure.
It’s by FAR the most popular cookie recipe at my house though. And hiding them from myself in the freezer does not work. Not after I discovered that they’re pretty damn good frozen too!
I make a very similar cookie, but I roll the dough balls in powdered sugar at the end. When they bake they make “crackles.”
I’ve seen those and they’re so pretty! Thanks for reminding me – I’m gonna have to try that next time.
-nance
Great , fun idea for a blog you two. My sister the baker is a coffee/chocaholic and she will kill for this recipe. And now I need one of those silicone thingies so I can stop wasting aluminum foil!
I have never had one until this weekend (I always used foil or parchment paper). I always thought they were too expensive, but I saw one that was on clearance at, of all places, Aldi’s for $5.99. I couldn’t resist and thought maybe it would be crappy – it works great and I wish I would have got 2 of them (they didn’t have any more or I probably would have grabbed 2).
-nance
Yeah, I thought I’d put up my recipe a long time ago. Of course, I failed to take pictures of the actual cookies, but eh.
http://www.cowgirljules.com/2005/11/20/seamus-cooks/
Wow. I guess I can’t act like they’re too difficult to make when your son does it. Hee!
-nance
He makes them on his own now. He’s almost fourteen. He spent all of last year throwing things into the mixer willy-nilly, before I convinced him that ingredients were in a specific order for a reason. Oddly, his stuff turned out decently anyway, but my standards were lower since I didn’t have to cook it myself. Or clean up afterwards.
Love the new site. I can see several more pounds added to my already big ass!
All good things in moderation.
(Says she who just ate two of those cookies and will probably have about 8 of them before the day is out).
-nance