Thick & Chewy Triple Chocolate Cookies

Another entry in the Cookie Parade! These delightful confections arrived at the Soup Lady's door as part of a cookie exchange project and really brightened up a dull Saturday.

The Soup Lady is happy to report that these cookies are everything that a chocolate lover could imagine: rich, moist, and a depth of chocolatey flavor due to the layering of the cocoa, the baking chocolate and the chips. They look like a simple cookie but are a quite complex eating experience. This recipe comes courtesy of Christine the Passionate Ailurophile. I had to look it up - she's a cat lady.

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Thick & Chewy Triple-Chocolate Cookies

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocaoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into medium bowl, set aside

2. Melt chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl set over pan of almost simmer water, stirring once or twice, until smooth. Remove from heat. Or melt in microwave: heat at 50% power for 2 minutes, stir, then heat another minute at 50% power. If it is not completely melted, continue heating, for 30 second incrememts at 50%, stirring after each time, until smooth. Be very careful
not to burn it! Beat eggs and vanilla lightly in a small bowl with a fork, sprinkle coffee powder over, and stir to dissolve

3. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 seconds. Beat in sugars to combine, about 45 seconds, mixture will look granular. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in egg mixture until incorporated, about 45 seconds. Add chocolate in steady stream and beat until combined, about
40 seconds. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. With mixer at low speed, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Then mix in chocolate chips...do not overbeat! Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until consistency is scoopable and fudge-like, about 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions, and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat. Leaving about 1 1/2 inches between balls, scoop dough onto cookie sheets using an ice-cream scoop. The balls should be about the size of golf balls.

5. Bake, reversing position of baking sheets halfway through baking (from top to bottom and front to back) until edges of cookies have just begun to set, but centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes. The cookies will look like they are not done, but don't bake them any longer than this...they will firm up as they cool.

6. Cool cookies on baking sheets for about 10 minutes. If using parchment, then carefully slide the parchment with cookies onto wire racks, and let cool to room temperature. I used Silpat, so I put parchment onto the wire racks and used an offset spatula to carefully transfer the cookies to it one by one. Put new parchment onto the baking sheets, scoop out remaining dough, and bake
and cool as above.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies. Recipe from "Here in America's Test Kitchen" by the editors of "Cook's Illustrated" magazine

Thick & Chewy Triple Chocolate Cookies served on Stangl's Golden Harvest dinnerware

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The Stangl pattern chosen to showcase this dark cookie is Golden Harvest, which was introduced in 1953. The patterns were often released to co-ordinate with other Stangl patterns for mix and matchability. Although this is the Soup Lady's most complete set, I still like to set a table with a combination of this pattern and AmberGlo together. Click here to admire Golden Harvest in close-up detail and see why I fell in love with it.

Comments

[Phil]

I have a 14 inch chop plate in this pattern. Do you know how much it is worth?

[The Soup Lady]

I would bet it's worth a pretty penny - especially if it is one of those kidney-shaped ones. Take a look on eBay to compare or get that Rob Runge book called 'the Collector's Guide to Stangl'

[blotto blotto]

marvelous, thank you.

[The Soup Lady]

Hey, look - Bluto left a comment! What's Popeye really like?

[Kelly]

those cookies look delicious.

I do have a question. I am a freshman in college and do not allow hot plates in my dorm is there any way I can make good soup with a microwave?

[sam]

Years ago, I came across a fund raising activity held in Baltimore: Night of thousand soups, where patrons pay an admission and get to taste many different kinds of soup. I don't know it exists anymore.

What a beautiful site. Great recipes, too.