Chocolate Cookies, My Way

 
What can I say? The chocolate divine? I say, this is chocolate cookie, my way. Crispy on the outside, fudgy on the inside. Half of the basic batter was nothing but chocolate, you do the math.
 
Honestly, I lost words to describe how thrilled I was to have finally found this recipe. I adapted it from Joy of Baking, did some tweaking here and there, and voila, I got the perfect chocolate fudge cookies I always wanted. ‘Nuff said, I’ll let you be the judge.
 
However, you should pay attention to a few aspects to achieve the best result, although it all comes back to your personal taste and love affair with chocolate. The taste was 99% determined by the chocolate you use. How the chocolate tastes, that’s how your cookie will taste like. So make sure you use the best chocolate to your liking. I used the one with 100% cocoa butter, by the by.
 
Use vanilla extract, not vanilla powder. Vanilla powder is not vanilla.
 
Also, do not omit the white chocolate chips. I know some of you cast aside white chocolate from the realm of real chocolate. “White chocolate is not chocolate!” Hey, couldn’t agree more. I am one of you, I am on your side. But you know the Newton’s first law? Regarding inertia? And Nietzsche? How the existence was achieved only when the thesis and anti-thesis were pairing side by side? Now, the evil white chocolate was there to be the anti-thesis of our good dark chocolate. It’s there to make it happen, it’s there to strengthen our faith in the truth of dark chocolate, otherwise it might not even exist in the first place.
 
Last but not least, I couldn’t stress more on the kitchenware you use. I mean, bakeware for baking cookies is not that demanding. Many times I’ve been asked of how to achieve equal shape and size of cookies. Or how to get smooth bottom of the cookies. Why the cookies are so oily. Et cetera, et cetera. Same answer everytime. Best ingredients, and good –if not best– kitchenware. I’m talking about good cookie sheet, parchment paper or silicone baking mat, ice cream scoop, proper rack, and spatula. I love silicone mat– it’s my best friend.
 

Side effect: craving for more, excitement, … you know, the usual sugar high syndrome you and I are familiar with.

 

 
PennyLane’s Chocolate Cookies
Original source: Joy of Baking
Modified by: Riana
 
60 grams cake flour (low protein flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
450 grams bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
60 grams unsalted butter or margarine
200 grams granulated white sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 gram instant coffee powder (2 sachet @ 2 grams), diluted with a few drops of hot water
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
175 grams semisweet dark chocolate chips
175 grams white chocolate chips
200 grams your favorite nuts, coarsely chopped and toasted (I used 100 grams almond slices and 100 grams kenari nuts –what is kenari nut in English? Canary nut? Not walnut, mind you, they’re different. Some people refer it as Java Almond, if that could be of any help. Otherwise, just use whatever nuts you fancy)
 
How-to:

1. Mix together the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter/margarine in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the sugar, eggs and salt until pale yellow and thick, about 5 minutes. Beat in the melted chocolate mixture, coffee and vanilla extract. Sift the flour mixture above the batter and fold it in. Mix only until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the batter until firm, about 30-60 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 170-180 degrees Celcius and place rack in center of oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
5. Using ice cream scoop, small or medium –whatever you prefer, scoop and drop batter onto prepared cookie sheets, spacing evenly. With moist fingers, press batter a little bit.Bake cookies about 10 – 12 minutes or until the tops of the cookies become dry and cracked, but are still shiny. Do not overbake these cookies.
6. Remove from oven and place baking pan on a wire rack to cool. When cookies are firm, remove from baking pan and let completely cool on rack.

Note:

• The time you need to let the batter harden in the fridge could be varied, depending on the chocolate you use. One chocolate could make the batter thicker or runnier than the other one. Check every 30 minutes, just until the batter is easy to scoop and drop without spreading.
• When you found your batter is too hard to scoop, or the cookies are too flat, it means the batter is too cold to begin with. Let it stand at room temperature until it reaches right consistency, then continue baking. The cookies should not be too flat.