I just reviewed a new chocolate book There’s Always Room for Chocolate. Here’s the review. And here’s the best thing we’ve made, so far, from the book. How do describe these cookies? Oh, how about the best chocolate cookie ever. Ever. These are quite decadent, a bit brownie-like, lovely to behold and chocolate intense. Need to pull an all-nighter? Well, a half dozen of these and some coffee will do the trick. Except, you don’t need the coffee.
As I was laying out the ingredients here, my wife Suzi said, “Can I help you?” That is code for “I don’t trust you and you’ll screw these up if I don’t do it for you.” Suzi was right. I am an impatient baker and there is a step here calling for an egg mixture to triple in volume over a span of 12 minutes. Me? I woulda stopped short of tripling and never gone the full 12 minutes. I learned my lesson. Follow the recipe and you will make this cookie a family favorite year round.
Dark Chocolate Walnut Cookies
Yield: 20 cookies
Ingredients:
- 6 ounces dark chocolate (preferably 60% cacao), coarsely chopped
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate (preferably 100% cacao), coarsely chopped
- 2 extra-large eggs
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone liners. In a small bowl, mix together 3 ounces of the dark chocolate and the walnuts. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set both bowls aside.
Melt the butter, the remaining 3 ounces of dark chocolate, and the unsweetened chocolate together in the top of a double boiler, stirring to keep the chocolate from burning, or microwave them together in 10- to 20-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until they become liquid. Whisk the butter and chocolate briskly until combined. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the eggs, sugar, instant espresso, and vanilla together on medium-low until the mixture comes together, then whip on high for 12 minutes; the mixture will nearly triple in volume. Turn the mixer to low and slowly pour the melted chocolate mixture in; mix until just incorporated.
Remove the bowl from the mixer, add the chopped chocolate and nuts to the dough, and fold everything together with a rubber spatula until just incorporated. Add half the flour mixture to the bowl and fold it into the batter until it is just incorporated, then repeat with the remaining flour mixture, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure that all the ingredients are evenly incorporated.
Use a tablespoon or a 1-ounce (1-tablespoon) cookie scoop to portion out the batter, using about 2 tablespoons of batter per cookie, and place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the prepared pans. You should be able to fit 12 cookies on each sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, then let the cookies cool completely on the pans. To remove them from the pans, run a small offset spatula or a thin knife between the cookies and the parchment paper or liner.
Source: There’s Always Room for Chocolate by Naomi Josepher, Jon Payson, and Georgia Freeman [Rizzoli, 2016]
Photo Information: Canon T2i, EFS 60mm Macro Lens, F/11 for 1/30th second at ISO‑3200