deep dark chocolate cookies

Let me introduce you to my newest favorite thing among my many teenage fads.

Last week when I visited my friend Katherine's house we made brownies; you know, just for a thursday night. We were really having a heart to heart when I professed my love for dark chocolate over milk chocolate; something that usually makes people reprimand me with disdain, was mirrored by her nodding, and showing me her chocolate closet. I don't exaggerate; a complete cabinet filled with chocolate chips; semisweet and bittersweet, Nestlé and Ghirardelli, and all different types of chocolate bars, and powders.  I swear my heart skipped a beat. 

Yes, the brownies were delicious, out of the oven, and during school the next day as I ate them greedily and refused to share, but I couldn't get over that closet. Why couldn't I have a closet of chocolate? My only problem might be that I would tear into it before actually using the chocolate for baking; I seem to have no willpower lately, especially concerning the jar of Peanut Butter & Co's Dark Chocolate Dreams in my refrigerator. 

Because I was in the mood for chocolate but didn't think it wise to have another brownie, I somehow reached the conclusion that I would be better off making cookies. These cookies were the most delicious little morsels I have ever eaten. They aren't like any other cookies; they are not too sweet (my mom didn't like them, for she's more of a milk chocolate person), and they stay chewy. Forever. But don't take my word for it because they were gone within two days and quite frankly I don't know what I'm going to do without them. Perhaps I'll plan out my own Manhattan-downsized chocolate drawer (you know, we can't afford a chocolate closet with the rent up here). I will definitely make these again, and again, and probably soon, because it's taking quite the effort to shoo my sister away from the computer screen, as she keeps staring at the pictures of the cookies, and angrily complaining about how she should have deferred college for a year to get to have eaten them. And did I mention there's no butter, oil, or flour in them? 


Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies
From Bon Appetit, June 2008


Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (about 9 ounces), divided
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray 2 large baking sheets with nonstick spray. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in glass bowl in microwave, stirring twice, about 2 minutes. Cool slightly.

Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl to soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar. Continue beating until mixture resembles soft marshmallow creme. Whisk 1 cup sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl to blend. On low speed, beat dry ingredients into meringue. Stir in lukewarm chocolate and 1/2 cup chocolate chips (dough will become very stiff).

Place 1/2 cup sugar in bowl. Roll 1 rounded tablespoon dough into ball; roll in sugar, coating thickly. Place on prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until puffed and tops crack, about 10 minutes. Cool on sheets on rack 10 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool.

lacy oatmeal nutella cookies

        As a child, I spent a good amount of time a few floors down in the apartment of my mom's best friend Lisa. Her daughter Anna and I were roughly the same age, and we passed countless afternoons pretending we were at the Zoo, and dumping all of her toys in the tub so they could "swim."Before they moved I had some pretty good memories there, from shattering their life size mirror as an infant to getting caught attempting to put mascara on my 6 year old friend. Lisa used to always make the most delicious, buttery, just something so perfect and not ordinary at all oatmeal cookies in the whole entire world. And who knows what was in them, since her kids were strictly allergic to dairy and eggs and nuts and unfortunately many other things, but you can't feel too bad, because they got to have those cookies in their house.

          Only after I grew to love cooking did I wake up one morning, and I mean this as literally as possible, the memory of Lisa's oatmeal cookies- no, drops, since they never ever flattened out (that was the glory of them, you see)- popped into my head. I bothered my mom to ask for the recipe for weeks and weeks until finally did she comply, and days later I got to baking.

           They flattened; and my face accompanied them as the image of the perfectly round and puffed cookies I snuck from the kitchen years ago (the truth finally comes out) faded. Maybe I built my expectations to high? Or, maybe it just wasn't the right recipe that she thought of? Of course I was so absent minded that when I saw the name of the recipe, "Lacy" Oatmeal Cookies, I was ignorant enough to think that the cookies had some long history and that Lacy was a person. And then my mom informed me, as I took them out of the oven, that Lacy, simply, is a type of cookie. Though they were good, I could not help but feel disappointed because I do love my cookies more on the ooey-gooey brownie side, and these were more crispy and delicate. So I dipped them in melted Nutella.

Don't judge.

pignoli cookies

Wow, so much time has gone by and I haven't had time to make a single post, sorry! Spring break passed way too quickly, and the months have just seemed to fly by. During which, I went to the Hamptons for a week. Some of my favorite parts of the Hamptons, like the  little shacks with delicious corn on the cob, and the tons of people, make it a fun scene. Plus, Levain Bakery has a shop in the Hamptons. Oh! I can't even begin to explain my enthusiasm for little orchards and fruit stands along the side of winding roads. Unfortunately, I came a week too early. A week. If only I waited a few more days, I would have left a few pounds heavier, full of cookie, and other summery treats. Ok, so I admit I hit the Manhattan bakery right on my way home, but it's not the same! 

Anyway, summer will be here soon- pie season! I can't wait. School has been keeping me so incredibly busy now that it's the second half of the year, and I haven't even been able to cook many new things nowadays- I'm working on it! A couple weeks back I made these cookies for my Italian class and they were delicious! They have a great unique nutty flavor from the almond paste, and with the pine nuts, it's unbeatable. 

sugar cookies

Nowadays, chefs love to make "jazzed up" versions of classic cookies. But honestly, what is wrong with a good old fashioned cookie (with an overdose of sprinkles on top)? Every Christmas, my family makes these sugar cookies. They're from my grandma, and they're one of those timeless you-need-to-dunk-this-into-your-coffee cookies. They are simple and delicate, and very easy. There needn't be any flavored alcohol or fancy chocolate additions to this one (or, just don't let me know the end results just yet).

As a family tradition, the recipe calls for snacking at the dough (while no one is looking, of course), and then sitting in the kitchen waiting for the cookies to brown, because you're out of other sweets to snack on. Hence the lack of cooked-cookie pictures.

And then, once you eat the cookies, you're back to doing homework. Ah, if only a cookie could change the world. 

I'm thoroughly enjoying my break this week, and I hope everyone else is doing the same. Happy Holidays :)