I Finally Found It!

I finally found an amazing, bake yourself, chocolate-CHOColate-CHOCOLATE cookie recipe that keeps a lovely shape and is soft and chewy. Yesssssssssssssss! They are a bit time consuming and labor intensive but it's worth it. Trust me. These cookies are ridiculous :)

ChocChocChocolate Cookies
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp instant coffee
10 TBS unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
12 oz semisweet chocolate
4 oz bittersweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
double boiler pan OR sauce pan and a small, heatproof glass bowl
another small bowl
medium bowl
large bowl
standing mixer
baking sheets
parchment paper (quilon free! do you remember why?)
silicone spatula
measuring spoons
a regular spoon

1. Add and inch or two of tap water to a sauce pan. Heat until simmering.
2. Break your chocolate bars up into pieces and place in a small glass bowl.
3. Place the bowl of chocolate on the sauce pan, making sure the bottom does not touch the water.


4. Stir occasionally until all of the chocolate is melted and smooth.
5. Remove bowl from pan and let chocolate cool on counter.
6. In medium bowl whisk the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
7. In your second small bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla and coffee until all the coffee is dissolved.


8. Beat the butter and sugars together in a large bowl until light and fluffy, or about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
9. Add the egg/coffee mixture to the butter/sugar and beat until fully incorporated. Scrape down the bowl.
10. Next add the chocolate and beat. Scrape down the bowl.
11. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture, scraping down the bowl and just until everything is combined.
12. Stir in the chocolate chips.


13. Cover bowl with a plate (to save moisture at altitude, don't waste plastic!) and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
14. Clean up your mess.
15. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
16. Adjust the racks in your oven to be in the middle.
17. Turn on oven to 350.
18. Remove fully chilled bowl of chocolate ecstasy dough from the fridge.
19. Scoop larger than usual balls of dough (supposedly around 3 TBS) into your hands and roll a bit.
20. Place dough balls on the baking sheets leave extra space between each one because the cookies are going to be the size of your palm.
21. Bake for 5-6 minutes. Rotate the pans.
22. Bake for 5-6 more minutes and remove from oven when the cookies have cracked on top.
23. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then transfer to cooling racks.
24. INDULGE! With milk or vanilla bean icecream!

If you need more chocolate, use all semisweet chocolate bars or 2 cups of chips.
If you want a little more texture, use Kosher or sea salt.
If you want to share with your friends, wrap up in star printed gift bags!


Lessons Learned
Make desserts involving melted chocolate in the winter or in kitchens with air conditioning. I think my room temperature has negatively effected this type of recipe in the past. Don't microwave chocolate or try to melt in the saucepan itself. There's a really good chance you'll burn it and the resulting little, unattractive chunks do not look pretty or taste good.

An Autumn Fav for Every Altitude

Pumpkin Cookies
Courtesy of Mama, a.k.a. Shelley

For cookies:
2 cups light brown sugar
1 can plain pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 large bowls
mixer (hand help or standing)
silicone spatula
short wooden spoon
baking sheets
quilon free, unbleached parchment paper (it’s biodegradable)
wire cooling racks

For glaze:
3 oz fat free cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBS milk
1 cup confectioners/powdered sugar
medium bowl
silicone spatula
hand held mixer

1. In large bowl, cream sugar, pumpkin, oil and vanilla together on low speed until smooth (don’t be scared, it will be kinda sloppy and oily).
2. In another large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together.
3. Add 1/3 of the dry mixture to the creamed mixture.
4. Blend with mixer until smooth.
5. Add another third of the dry mixture to the creamed mixture.
6. Blend with wooden spoon until smooth.
7. Add remaining dry mixture to the creamed mixture and blend until smooth (it's okay if its heavy and stiff).
8. Turn on over to 350.
9. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper.
10. Drop spoonfuls of batter on to cookie sheets. Sometimes I mold it in my hands a bit to make them more rounded and smooth.
11. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes.
12. Remove sheets from oven at let set 2 minutes.
13. Move cookies to racks to cool completely.
14. In medium bowl combine cream cheese, vanilla, milk and sugar.
15. Mix on medium speed until smooth.
16. Dunk the top of each cookie into the glaze and then let dry on wire racks (some WILL drip off so make sure you make these on a surface you can easily mess and then clean up :)

Lesson Learned
If your cakes or cookies get cracks in them it means they're too dry. This time around, my cookies simply had too much flour. Lesson learned? I didn't need to up the flour amount to 4 and 1/3 cups. Oh well, they were still FALLtastic!

Melted Cake

I made a theme cake recently, my first one! It was for The Mighty Acorns 2010 awards banquet. I was pretty proud of myself after buying a special sphere shaped pan and professional cake box, and trying out icing bags and tips for the 3rd time ever. It ended up looking pretty good but I left the cake in my car on an 80 degree day for a quick meeting in Boulder, pre-banquet. What was I thinking? My grass wilted and the softball almost balded. But it still tasted pretty good.

P.S. I have my first non-friend follower, woo hoo!