A few posts ago, I may have mentioned some cookies which made one act as though one were a certain Sesame Street monster. Here we have an altogether more grown up sort of cookie. Indeed, in my head I have classified this type of treat into two categories, cookies and biscuits. For some unfathomable reason, to me, a cookie is chewy and a biscuit is crisp. Using that system of judgement, this is undoubtedly a biscuit, however due to the fact that this is an american recipe and a pretty famous one at that, I am honour bound to stick with the term cookie. But hey, let’s not get wrapped up in semantics.
These are a simple cookie, from the slice and bake variety, whereby you form your dough into a log and hack off pieces to bake at will. The dough can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days, which makes the prospect of fresh baked cookies dangerously acheivable at almost any hour. Having a man around the house who despises cakes, but has an insatiable yen for cookies means that I am safe from snaffling too many, as they are usually gone before I get to them. If you do not have the same safety net, I urge you to make a half batch. Or freeze the dough. Or just go for a long walk afterwards… Or just not and say you did. I won’t tell. I went for a walk just yesterday…right?
These cookies are deceptively named, in my humble opinion. This may be due to the fact that they used to be called Korova Cookies, and I love the sound of old romance that Eastern European words can express. More logically, however, I think that this cookie is appealing straight to the adults, or to those with adult tastes, and that not everyone will be a huge fan of these biscuits. They are complex, and smoky and rich in cocoa flavour, with chunks of dark chocolate, with at least 70% Cocoa solids. They are so at home next to a cup of cookie, that putting them with milk seems like putting a real hammer, next to some plastic kids’ nails. Just not right. It makes you want to grab the hammer and get it the hell outta there.
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Do the squares of chocolate make anyone else as happy as I was? |
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So in my round-about way, what I am trying to say is that perhaps these biscuits are not the catalyst for world peace that we have all been waiting on. They may not appeal to everyone’s tastes especially if you are not a dark chocolate lover. So here is what I propose; save them for a time when you can get together with a group of like minded people and have a coffee. Sit down, with these known lovers of dark chocolate, and have a conversation, nibble on a cookie, and from there you might start the conversation that will lead to world peace. You may also find out some juicy gossip, get closer to a friend, enjoy a cookie and have a good time. No downside. Maybe these are world peace cookies.
World Peace Cookies
From Dorie Greenspan’s Baking; From my home to yours, Hougton Mifflin, 2006.?
Ingredients
160g Butter
2/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Caster Sugar
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Vanilla Paste
1 1/4 cups Plain Flour
1/3 cup quality Cocoa Powder
1/2 tsp Bicarb Soda
200g min. 70% Dark Chocolate, chopped (Into perfect squares if the photo above makes you as happy as it made me.)
Beat the butter until soft and fluffy, either by hand or with electronic help. If you are going by hand, make sure the butter is at room temperature before you start. Also a good idea, if using a machine, but not as crucial. Add in both the sugars and salt and vanilla, and keep beating until well combined and fluffy once more. Sift in the flour, cocoa and bicarb. This is an important step, even though I hate sifting, as both bicarb and cocoa tend to have lumps in them. Slowly incorporate the flour into the dough, trying to mix as little as possible, but making sure that all the dry ingredients are well incorporated. Finally fold in the chopped chocolate.
Now the dough needs to be formed into a log and wrapped either in plastic or baking paper, and refrigerated for at least 2 hours, and as I said before, up to three days. (Frozen it will last for up to 2 months). When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Using a sharp knife, slice off rounds about a centimetre thick. At this point, the rounds can tend to fall apart, ut just squish them back together, and when they bake you won’t be able to tell. Slide them into the middle of your preheated oven and bake for 12 minutes. They will still be very soft, but be brave and leae them to cool on their tray. They will crisp and become firm, and they are divine when they are still just warm. Enjoy and peace be with you.