chocolate fudge cookies

All I can say is uuuuuuhhhhhhhh, oh my gosh.

Which is probably why they are the first result that comes up when you Google 'choc fudge cookies.' Thank the lord for that because it was a bit of a gamble when running around Woolworths to decide that I didn't want to make jam swirl cookies, I wanted to make something fudgey and delicious. Thank you, iphone! This recipe if from www.joyofbaking.com which I had never been to, but if every recipe is an Americany Awesome as this, it's my new favourite place. They also have a really comprehensive ingredient substitution page which is worth a look.

Ingredients:

1 cup (115 grams) pecans or walnuts

1/2 cup (55 grams) cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder (optional)

1 pound (450 grams) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

1 3/4 cups (350 grams) granulated white sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (170 grams) semisweet dark chocolate chips

1 cup (170 grams) white chocolate chips

First of all, I didn't use any nuts because I didn't have enough money. Secondly, I used milk chocolate chips instead of dark so we could have a triple-awesome-every-kind-of-chocolate cookie. Thirdly, I take weird American ingredients to mean:

Baking flour=plain flour
Bittersweet or semisweet chocolate=dark cooking chocolate

I haven't checked this, but it worked out fine. Also, I was about 50g short of dark chocolate. Got that? Okay, let's press on.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly brown and fragrant. Let nuts cool and then chop coarsely. 

2. Sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder.  

Melt the chocolate and butter in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until smooth. 

Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature. I was in too much of a hurry for that bit, so I left it about 10 mins (and it's freezing here) and that was plenty.

3. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the sugar and eggs until pale yellow and thick, about 5 minutes. (When you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow ribbons.) 

Go Mixmaster, go!

4. Beat in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla extract.  Fold in the dry ingredients to the chocolate batter and mix only until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Cover with plastic wrap and 

refrigerate the batter until firm, about 30 minutes (or overnight).

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls (60 ml) onto prepared cookie sheets, spacing evenly.

With moist fingers, press batter to form 3 1/2 to 4 inch (9 - 10 cm) rounds. 

Bake cookies about 12 - 14 minutes or until the tops of the cookies become dry and cracked, but are still shiny. Do not over bake. 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.

Don't try and put them on a wire rack--if you haven't overcooked them they should be too floppy when hot to move.

Funny thing is, first batch looked like this:

Oh yeahhh.

  Second batch looked like this:

Oh.

It was either cookie aliens or batch #2's baking tray was too small. That tin was voted off the island for the rest of the batches. Make sure your cookies have plenty of room to move in the oven, because they become quite enormous (have I mentioned they're American?)

 

These cookies are best the day they are baked but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days.

Makes about 24 large (giant) cookies.

Verdict: These cookies are the shiznit. I took half the batch to my parents' house and half to my friend's, who was puppysitting for me. Even my mum, who doesn't particularly like cookies, ate two. My friend, I'm fairly sure, has eaten all twelve.