Chock it up to chocolate
Chef Sara Moulton shares a recipe for Christmas cookies.
If, like me, you’re a fan of dark chocolate peppermint bark at Christmastime, you’re going to love these cookies. Your friends and family will, too. But you’ll have to plan ahead because the batter is so soft it needs to chill overnight before scooping.
The main ingredient here is 1 ½ pounds of chocolate, which guarantees an intensely chocolate-y flavor. The cookie’s base is made of a combination of unsweetened and bittersweet chocolate. Afterward, additional chunks of the bittersweet chocolate — along with the crushed mint candy — are folded in.
The key to this recipe’s success is good quality bittersweet chocolate — that is, a brand that contains at least 60 percent cacao. The higher the percentage of cacao in a chocolate bar, the darker and more intense the flavor. That’s why we’re adding chunks of chocolate instead of chocolate chips — bittersweet bar chocolate contains much more cacao than most chips.
Chopping the chocolate will take a little time. I recommend using a serrated knife for the job. As for crushing the peppermint candies, the best way is to put them in a re-sealable plastic bag and then gently whack away at the bag with a rolling pin. The easiest way to portion out the batter is with a 1-ounce ice-cream scoop rather than a spoon — and it’ll make the size of the cookies more consistent, too; just dip it in hot water between each scoop.
I suggest baking a single tray of cookies at a time because the cookies don’t cook evenly when there’s more than one tray. Finally, be careful not to overcook them. The cookies should be soft to the touch when you pull them out of the oven. That way they’ll remain nice and gooey.
As you might imagine, these cookies are delicious year-round. If you decide to make them during a season when peppermint candies are scarce, just leave them out and add 1 ½ tablespoons of powdered espresso. You will end up with outstanding mocha cookies.
Sara Moulton is host of public television’s “Sara’s Weeknight Meals.” She was executive chef at Gourmet magazine for nearly 25 years and spent a decade hosting several Food Network shows, including “Cooking Live.” Her latest cookbook is “HomeCooking 101.”