The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SNOWY-TOPPED BROWNIE DROPS
This wonderfully rich, moist-at-the-center chocolate cookie is just the thing for a holiday cookie swap or for enjoying alone with a glass of milk. The brownie-like drops get their crackled crust from rolling the dough in confectioner’s sugar before baking. As the cookie expands, you get what cookbook author Dorie Greenspan describes as “dark valleys and white plateaus.”
5 tablespoons unsalted butter,
cut into about 10 pieces 8 ounces semisweet or
bittersweet chocolate 3/4 cup granulated sugar 2 large cold eggs 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 3/4 cup all-purpose flour Confectioners’ sugar, for
dredging
Fit a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, making certain the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl, and put the butter in the bowl. Coarsely chop 6 ounces of the chocolate and scatter it over the butter. Finely chop the remaining 2 ounces chocolate; set aside. Leave the bowl over the simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the ingredients are just melted, taking care that they don’t get so hot that they separate. Remove the bowl from the pan.
Using a whisk or a heatproof spatula, stir in the sugar. The mixture will turn grainy, but that’s OK. One by one, add the eggs, whisking energetically after each one goes in and then for a minute or two more. The dough will become smoother, shinier and thicker. Whisk in the vanilla and the salt and then, less vigorously, the flour. Stir in the finely chopped chocolate. Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. (Or you may chill in the freezer for 30-40 minutes.)
When you’re ready to bake, center a rack in the oven, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Put some confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. (If your confectioners’ sugar is lumpy, you can sift it, but even lumpy sugar seems to be fine for these cookies.) Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out level portions of dough or use a tablespoon to get rounded spoonfuls. Roll it in a ball, and drop it into the bowl of sugar. Gently toss the dough around in the sugar until it’s generously coated. Place the ball on one of the baking sheets and repeat, giving the balls about 2 inches of spread space. Slide the sheet into the oven and bake the cookies, for about 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet after 6 minutes. The cookies will have spread and cracked; their sides should feel set and their centers should still be a little soft.
Put the baking sheet on a rack and wait 2 minutes, then carefully transfer the cookies to the rack using a broad spatula and let cool until they are just warm or have reached room temperature.
Repeat with the second baking sheet and the remaining dough. (If the dough has softened to the point that it’s sticky when you roll it, return to the refrigerator or the freezer for a few minutes.) Makes: About 25 cookies
Per cookie: 107 calories (percent of calories from fat, 43), 1 gram protein, 15 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 5 grams fat (3 grams saturated), 23 milligrams cholesterol, 45 milligrams sodium.