Chocoholics will love you for it.
Bake them tonight, wrap these super chocolaty Chocolate Truffle Cookies from Dahlia Bakery Cookbook (William Morrow, Fall 2012) by Tom Douglas and Shelley Lance in the morning and you have a Valentine's Day homemade gift.
Chocolate Truffle Cookies With Crackly Crust
MAKES ABOUT 30 COOKIES (3 1⁄2 INCHES IN DIAMETER)
Packed with bittersweet chocolate, cocoa, and chocolate chips, super- chocolaty and soft with a crackled top, just one of these cookies will more than satisfy the cravings of any chocoholic. Whipping the batter well as you incorporate the eggs will give the cookies their characteristic crackly tops. But don’t overwork the batter after you add the flour, or the cookies will be tough.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: ELECTRIC MIXER, 2- OUNCE ICE CREAM SCOOP
(OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED)
1 1⁄4 cups (7 1⁄8 ounces/205 grams) all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (3 ⁄4 ounce/20 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 pound plus 4 ounces (567 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped (see “Our Favorite Chocolates,” page 21, and “How to Chop Chocolate,” page 12)
1⁄2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1⁄4 sticks/5 ounces/140 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2 1⁄4 cups (1 pound plus 1⁄4 ounce/460 grams) sugar
6 large eggs at room temperature (see “How to Bring Ingredients to Room Temperature,” page 12)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Generous 2 cups (12 ounces/340 grams) bittersweet chocolate chips
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder (see “How to Sift,” page 13). Stir in the salt and set aside. Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of very hot but not boiling water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water), stirring occasionally until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove the bowl from the water and allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment and cream on medium speed until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on medium speed until the eggs are incorporated. (Tip: Break the eggs into a bowl and tip them into the mixer bowl one at a time.)
4. Increase the speed to high and beat for a few minutes until the mixture is very light, creamy, and pale in color, scraping the bowl down as needed. Add the melted chocolate and the vanilla extract and mix just until combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the dry ingredients using a rubber spatula. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Start scooping the cookies as soon as you finish making the batter. The batter is very soft at first, but it starts firming up quickly as it sits, which will make it more difficult to portion. The easiest way to portion the cookies is with a 2- ounce ice cream scoop. Pack the scoop only about three- quarters full. Or use a scant 1 ⁄4 cup or 11 ⁄2 ounces of cookie dough for each cookie.
6. Scoop the cookies onto parchment- lined baking sheets, placing them about 2 inches apart. Flatten each mound of dough slightly with your hand. (Tip: You can use a dampened hand, because the dough is sticky.)
7. Soon after the cookies are scooped, put them in the oven and bake them. If you are baking in batches, don’t refrigerate the scooped dough, but leave them at room temperature. These cookies will not spread properly if the dough is chilled first.
8. Bake the cookies until they are evenly cracked all over the tops and softly set, 14 to 16 minutes, rotating the pan about halfway through the baking time. If you have 2 pans of cookies in the oven at the same time, also switch them between the racks.
9. Remove the pans from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Allow the cookies to cool completely before removing them from the baking sheets with a metal spatula. They stick to the paper a bit, but you can scrape them off with a sturdy metal spatula easily enough.
(* Recipe from Dahlia Bakery Cookbook by Tom Douglas and Shelley Lance – William Morrow, Fall 2012- Photography by Ed Anderson, All rights reserved)
Recent Comments