The other day I was moping around my apartment when a craving for cookies struck. I quickly scoured my cupboards for ingredients only to realize I was missing several essentials. My husband and I are still restocking our pantry since our move to Austin, and little things like Baking Powder are easy to overlook most days. This is especially telling of my cooking habits. You see, I am not much of a baker. I prefer the high heat and sharp edges of slicing and sauteing to the gentle, meticulous art of baking. Only once in a rare while does the mood strike me, and when it does I start each project the same way – leafing through my cook books in search for something I can’t screw up.
On hand ingredients also play an integral role while choosing my recipes. I have too much baking ADD to go out and get ingredients when these moods find me. If I’ve got it in my head to bake cookies, I know the notion won’t last long, so I’ve got to work with what is in the house. During this particular cookie craze I had chocolate chips, eggs, butter, flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla. This narrowed my options pretty quickly, but after a bit of searching I found it: Double-Chocolate Brownie Cookies from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. Because my chocolate supply was limited, I made a few adjustments to the original recipe in that area. I also omitted 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts, which would have beem lovely if I’d have had them.
Double-Chocolate Brownie Cookies
Makes about 30
Ingredients
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup sifted all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper ; set aside. (I used Silpat Mats) In a heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water, melt 8 ounces chocolate chips with the butter. Stir until smooth. Set mixture aside to cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat chocolate mixture and sugar on medium speed until well combined, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs, and mix until completely combined. Beat in vanilla. Add the flour and salt, and beat until just incorporated. Stir in remaining chocolate chips.
(At this point the recipe asks you to shape the dough into balls, but I found it to be far too loose to do so. I refrigerated the dough for about 30 minutes before I took the next step.)
Shape 2 tablespoons of dough at a time into 1 1/2 inch balls and place about 1 1/2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are set and centers are still a bit soft, 9 to 11 minutes. Transfer parchment and cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
The results were delicious! These lovely little cookies had flaky, crispy crusts and moist, chewy insides, just like brownies. Add a glass of milk to the mix and you are in cookie heaven.