Dorrie’s dark and stormies (chocolate chip cookies with chocolate dough)
These cookies are awesome! They won second place in the Chicago tribune cookie contest and are easy to make and light (like a rice wafer) and addicting.
1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small bits
1 Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together in small bowl; set aside. Beat the butter until smooth in bowl of an electric mixer at medium speed. Add the sugars, vanilla and salt; beat 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add the flour mixture, mixing until incorporated but still crumbly, and being careful not to overwork the dough. Stir in the chocolate pieces.
2 Turn the dough out onto a smooth work surface; squeeze it so that it sticks together in large clumps. (If you need to, it’s OK to lightly flour the work surface.) Gather the dough into a ball; divide in half. Shape each ball into a log 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap logs in plastic wrap; chill at least 1 hour.
3 Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Gently slice logs into 1/2-inch rounds using a serrated knife (some will crumble; simply press broken bits back onto cookie). Place 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.
4 Bake, one sheet at a time, 14 minutes; cookies will not look done or be firm. Cool on pan 5 minutes; transfer to cooling rack. Cool to room temperature.
Note: Dough can be made ahead and frozen. Frozen dough doesn’t need to be defrosted before baking; just slice logs and bake 1 minute longer. Packed airtight, cookies will keep at room temperature up to 3 days or frozen up to a month.
Checkerboard cookies: These cookies are hard to make. Dyann doesn’t specify how long you need to chill the dough but 1 hour is not enough. Also, you need to chill the dough in between each step and I made a pretty big mess. The shortbread is not very sweet and good for tea. If I can make it look better, I think it will be very striking.
Recipe is from Dyannbakes.com (see also her instructional video)
Vanilla Shortbread
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) of unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
Chocolate Shortbread
8 tablespoons (1 stick) of unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup of Dutch processed cocoa powder (sifted after measuring)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon of table salt (not kosher)
When I get back from San Francisco, maybe I’ll try this recipe from Gourmet’s top cookie recipes. Thea made them last week and they were very tasty!
Navettes Sucrees (Sugar Shuttles)
Sift 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt into a bowl. Add 1/4 cup soft butter, 2 egg yolks, and 1 teaspoon vanilla and knead until the dough is well blended. Chill it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Divide the dough into portions the size of a small walnut. Roll each piece of dough with the palm of the hand on a lightly floured board to give it the shape of a small sewing-machine shuttle. Dip each in egg white and roll in granulated sugar. Bake on a lightly buttered baking sheet in a moderate oven (350° F.) for about 8 minutes, or until the little cookies are lightly browned.