Bret Thompson's Double Chocolate Cookies

Uhh. Looky there. Chocolate. On chocolate. More chocolate. Can't speak, can't think. COOOKIE.

Is this what it feels like to be a 15-year old boy in the presence of a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model?

The Culinary SOS column has struck again and with a vengeance. I read it last Wednesday and by Thursday night was in the kitchen, up to my elbows in chocolate. It's January! We're meant to be eating brown rice noodles and copious amounts of steamed spinach! Instead, these cookies - these insane, ridiculous, almost unbearably good cookies - will bewitch you. You will not be able to resist. Just try to! You won't.

Think about this: 1 and 1/4 pounds (yes, pounds) of chocolate. To only 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 stick of butter. Are you starting to sweat a bit? These cookies demand respect. And yet are easy enough to make on a school night. You don't even need an electric beater. I did the whole thing with a whisk and a wooden spoon.

You know, melt chocolate and butter, whisk eggs and sugar, fold in dry ingredients, the usual deal. And then dump in one entire pound of chopped bittersweet chocolate. Yeah, that's where things get interesting.

 
Somehow I managed to keep my wits about me and, instead of following the instructions to make 16 cookies out of this batter, decided to make smaller cookies, 26 to be exact. You can fit about 12 spoonfuls of the dough on a regular baking sheet. I advise that you do the same, because 16 cookies out of this amount of batter will make monster cookies, ones that might just kill you.

You have two choices when baking the cookies. You can slightly underbake them (5 minutes on each side), which leaves them ooey-gooey and you in desperate need of a napkin when eating them. Or you can let them go one or two minutes longer on each side, so that they firm up a bit. The benefit of doing this is that when you remove them from the oven, you don't have to (cruelly) wait until they cool completely, as per the recipe. You can pace for a few minutes, pour yourself a glass of milk and then dig in while they're still hot and the chocolate is molten. This is possibly the best thing since sliced bread.

Not too sweet, velvety and complex and rich, tasting almost of coffee, though there's none in them, yes, these are possibly among the world's best cookies. There, I've said it.

Now, the milk. You cannot - I repeat, cannot - eat these cookies without milk. Oh sure, you might try to, but you will fail. I tried, I really did, and I hit a chocolate wall after about my second bite. A chocolate wall that could only be scaled by having a glass of cold 1% milk nearby. Yes, they are that intense.

Another thing: you should not eat more than two in one sitting. You might die of chocolate. When you try these, you'll see that it's totally possible. (My friend Seb managed three in one sitting, but he's 6 foot 8 and operates differently.) I have to warn you that in the presence of these freshly-baked discs, greed and insatiable desire will take over you and you will want to eat as many as you possibly can. It's practically evolutionary! You will be powerless. But try to resist. Will you believe me if I tell you that I almost regretted eating two in one go? And yet, couldn't help myself. So just be forewarned.

These cookies are a force to be reckoned with.

Double Chocolate Cookies
Makes 26

1/4 pound (4 ounces) unsweetened chocolate
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound bittersweet chocolate (chunks or chips)

1. In a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt the unsweetened chocolate and butter. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.

2. In the bowl of a mixer with a paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a fork, combine the eggs, vanilla and sugar. Mix just until incorporated and set aside.

3. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.

4. Add the melted chocolate to the egg mixture and mix just until combined. Stir in the sifted dry ingredients and mix just until combined, then stir in the bittersweet chocolate.

5. Cover the batter with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to chill thoroughly. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

6. Drop spoonfuls of the dough on a greased, parchment-lined sheet pan, leaving 2 inches between each.

7. Bake until the edges of the cookies are just set and the center is still soft, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Place the cookies, still on the parchment, on a rack and cool slightly.

Comments

[Adrienne]

Oh. My. Chocolate.

Now I have to go buy chocolate by the pound. This should be interesting.

[nbmandel]

Are they really good _cookies_? Or are they just lumps of melty chocolate? Not, I suppose, that that's a bad thing . . .

[Culinarywannabe]

Sounds like eating a chocolate bar, just with a slightly cookie texture. I'm sure they were amazing!

[Luisa]

NBMandel - they're truly good cookies, great even. Definitely not for children, since the amount of chocolate makes them very intense and not-too-sweet. They are definitely cookies, though, not bars of chocolate or even lumps of chocolate. The cookie bits are just very small.

[A Mouse Bouche]

are you KIDDING ME with this??

i think this is the first time i've actually been frightened of a cookie. these sound terrifying.

[Sara]

I actually printed this recipe out because it looked so good.

Your cookies look great and the recipe is moving to the top of the pile.

[Mary]

Aiiiiieee! Wow. I am a chocolate-obsessed lass & must make these soon, clearly! Is it OK if I eat them with coffee instead of milk... :)?

[Luisa]

Mary - of course it's OKAY, I'm just saying that having the milk nearby, kind of like a bucket of water near a candle-laden Christmas tree, is advisable. :)

[Sylvie]

Oh my, I guess these must be where the term 'death by chocolate' comes from.

[maggie (p&c)]

Oh, geez. Now I need these. They look utterly truly divine.
I was trying to do that whole rice-noodle-steamed-spinach thing. Are you not having white dress nightmares like I am?
Cute new photo on the lefthand corner!

[Laura]

Well with an ingredient list like that, these things have no choice but to be amazing. But yes, thank you for the milk warning. I think I'd go into an insulin-induced coma without a little something to cut the richness.

[Anne]

These look to die for!!
Can't wait to try them out, thank you! These might just be what I need to fall off the wagon ;)

[Phoebad]

I guess I can always put off New Year's resolutions to Chinese New Year...

[Leah]

Oh yeah. I'm visiting. There's no doubt about it now.

[MsGourmet]

these look amazing!

[Daily Spud]

I'm coming over all hot and bothered after reading that. That is one in-your-face chocolate cookie. Perhaps, when I recover from the shock and palpitations, it'll be in-my-face too! :)

[CattyinQueens]

Oh my. It's a good thing National Pie Day is coming up this Friday--otherwise, I would bake these and eat an entire batch myself. Instead, I will bake pies and actually feel virtuous!

[Laura]

These are amazing. I made the cookies smaller, though. My yield was 3 dozen cookies. I think these would be great baked in a pan as brownies, too.

[gastroanthropologist]

Just by reading the ingredients you can tell that chocolate takes center stage. Warm chocolate with butter for extra richness and a little flour to bind it together. I wish I was enjoying one right now...I must now go get a lot of chocolate so I can make these.

[Mari]

These are mood enhancer cookies, you need these for PMS, post-breakup, and negative bank balance situations.

[Fuji Mama]

Now how can anyone resist making these with a description like that? YUM!

[Katrina]

After a post like this, everyone's gotta try these!
Yum-me! Chocolate based cookies aren't even my favorite, but now I've got to try these!

[Sara]

These look DELICIOUS! In my opinion, the more chocolate, the better!

[Hannah]

whoa....i mean, whoa
those. look. GOOD.

[crazy4food]

Looks very similar to the recipe in the cookbook Brownie Points. It's verrry good.

[Chloe254]

These were incredible. My husband made them over the weekend and he got scared halfway through the recipe, chickened out and only put 2/3 of the required chocolate chips. The result is that we managed to eat (a lot) more than 2 in one sitting and believe me, it creates a serious addiction!

Milk is key ;)

Can't wait to make them again, thanks!!

[Heather]

Can I halve the recipe?

[Luisa]

Heather - I'm not sure. Halving baking recipes is usually tough, but just by glancing at this one it looks like it could possibly work. If you try it and it works, let us know!

[Cait]

They're almost like brownies- I usually hate chocolate-based cookies, something about the sweetness usually makes the chocolate taste fake, but these are AMAZING. More like brownies, they're still really soft and moist and chewy the next day, even on the edges. I like sea salt on brownies to balance the sweetness so I baked some of these cookies with sea salt sprinkled on top- I would not recommend it. The bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate and the salt in the recipe balances the sweetness itself.

[christian]

What kind of flour did you use? My batter/dough came out soupy.

[Luisa]

Christian - I used all-purpose. It was a very dense dough. Did you perhaps use extra-large or jumbo eggs? I can't imagine what else could have made this dough soupy for you.

[Liz]

Wow. I made these the other weekend for a Lunar New Year party, and they were everything I hoped for and more. One of my friends actually held the cookies hostage...If you like chocolate, even a little, these cookies are totally worth it.

[tara]

There is no way I pass these by, especially with such high praise from you! Chocolate cookies that are almost like brownies? My goodness, what a combination. I've added the recipe to my "must try" list. Thanks so much for posting.

[kat]

Finally got around to making these and they were AMAZING! My DH & I ate the whole batch, hot out of the oven, in one sitting. BTW, this dough freezes great and I've been scooping out cookies as needed, which has been every night since I put this dough in my freezer.

[kate]

mine came out soupy too but i did use extra large eggs. however, it's still kind of odd, i've never had egg size have such a huge impact. the cookies just didn't hold their shape while baking and ran out and burnt on the edges. luckily i did a test batch so i think i'll add a little extra flour before i bake the rest.

[kate]

are you sure it's only 1/2 cup of flour? compared to other cookie recipes that seems so little

[Fanney Dóra]

Oh my Lord... I literally ate the sreen!

[maggie]

omg these cookies need TWO glasses of milk. thank you so much for reminding me to make them.

[Jilly83]

I just had to say these are the BEST cookies my husband and i have ever eaten!! I cannot get over how heavenly they are. I find myself thinking about them all the time. I will be making these forever! Thank you!!