A Very Nice Chocolate Cookie

I didn’t do much blogging over the holidays. I was caught in a cooking frenzy; just too wrapped up in production, packaging, and delivery to remember to pause long enough for photos – let alone write much. I always regret not taking the time, because the ones that get away are usually the ones I think the most about later.

I really enjoy preparing homemade gifts and I cranked out a fair amount this year from Asian pumpkin-pear butter and cranberry chutney, to pickled peppers and a ton of baked goods.  I even managed a big batch of popcorn brittle. This morning I gleefully discovered a few yummy unmarked chocolate cookies in a corner of my freezer that I must have furtively stashed away at some point. My daughter is happiest with chocolate of almost any description, so these were likely remnants from her holiday collection.

Finds such as this are truly serendipitous – and frequently they are even better the second time around.  These well balanced deeply chocolate cookies are a case in point. To make certain though, I ate three in the amount of time that it took to get organized and shoot a few still-frozen cookies.

Yes, they were good enough to do a quick search and determine which recipe I had used – since I have chocolate cookies for every occasion! So here we are: a resurrected photo and reconnected recipe, a little late, but ever so delicious. This brownie-like cookie recipe originally came by way of Ghirardelli; it was popular in my catering business, mostly due to the vague undercurrent of cinnamon and cayenne. It seems to bump up the flavor a tad more… if that’s possible.

It’s easy to fall into superlatives over chewy, chocolatey cookies, so I find it handy to understate the obvious and simply call them:

A Very Nice Chocolate Cookie
Inspired by a Ghirardelli Chocolate recipe

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips, 1 bag
6 tablespoons butter
3 eggs
1 cup sugar, part brown sugar
2/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash cayenne
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Melt the bittersweet chocolate and butter. Separately combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and cayenne.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar until thick; stir in the melted chocolate. Stir in the dry ingredients, and gently mix in semi sweet chips and nuts.

For 2" cookies, form into 4 logs, each 1 1/2" in diameter and about 8" long. Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. The dough can be frozen; thaw in refrigerator before proceeding. Note: the dough can be stored in refrigerator for a few days and fresh baked as need.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap dough; with sharp knife cut into 3/4" thick slices. Place slices 1 1/2" apart on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until shiny crust forms on top, but interior is still soft. Don’t over bake. Cool briefly on baking sheet. Yield: 42 - 1½” cookies ~~