All-The-Chocolate Cookies
Makes 28
The new book “Bake Smart: Sweets and Secrets From My Oven to Yours” features some unusual baked goods, including Toasted Coconut Oat Cookies, Rhubarb-Lime-Ginger Slab Pie, and Sticky Banana Monkey Bread. Author Samantha Seneviratne, who won a James Beard nomination for her first book, “The New Sugar & Spice,” worked for Fine Cooking and Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. These intensely rich chocolate cookies are mixed with bittersweet, milk, and white chocolate chunks. Seneviratne writes that chopping bar chocolate is better than using chips because bar chocolate has a “less waxy mouthfeel” than chips. Her recipe for these cookies makes nine giant rounds, but for holiday gifts, these instructions yield regular-sized cookies you can wrap in clusters.
1 cup flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons (1¼ sticks) salted or unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup chopped milk chocolate
½ cup chopped bittersweet chocolate
½ cup chopped white chocolate
1. In a bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to blend them.
2. In an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter with the brown and granulated sugar for 3 minutes, or until creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
3. With the mixer set on low speed, beat in the flour mixture just until combined. Add the milk, bittersweet, and white chocolate. Beat briefly just to combine them. The mixture will be stiff. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand. Make sure any dry mixture at the bottom of the bowl is blended into the dough.
4. Set an 18-inch sheet of plastic wrap on the counter. Set the dough in the middle. Set another sheet of plastic wrap the same size on top. Use the top sheet to shape the mixture into a flat 7-inch square. Fold up the sides of the plastic wrap to encase the dough. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours or for up to 36 hours.
5. Let the dough sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes to soften slightly.
6. Set the oven at 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Make 6 cuts in one direction on the square, 3 cuts in the other, to form 28 pieces. With your hands, roll each piece into a ball. Press each one down slightly with the heel of your hand.
8. Arrange the balls on a baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 16 minutes, or until the cookies are still a little soft in the center. Slide the parchment paper onto a wire rack.
9. Bake the remaining balls on clean parchment in the same way. Store in an airtight container, layered with parchment or waxed paper at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.