Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Not your ordinary chocolate cookie.

 I am a cookie addict.  While I’m not inclined to cram a fist full of cookies into my mouth in the style of   the cookie monster, I see nothing wrong in making a meal out of two large cookies and a glass of milk.   More than once my daughter has come home from school and stated I had chocolate breath.    If I was forced to choose my favorite sweet thing to eat, it would have to be a freshly baked cookie.  No ordinary cookie, but a wonderful hybrid call a Brookie. 
Take a brownie and cross it with a cookie and you naturally get a Brookie.  I found a brownie cookie recipe a while back and wasn’t thrilled with the results.  So I tinkered and tested and eventually wound up with this satisfying chocolatey treat I call a Brookie.
This cookie dough freezes beautifully and what could be better than knowing you are only 15 minutes away from a freshly baked Brookie!  These cookies are best eaten the same day they are baked, but if you should have any left the next day, try microwaving them for 5-7 seconds each to refresh their texture.  
To get great results when making these cookies be sure to select quality chocolate.  I like Guitard chocolate. Try their extra dark bittersweet chip if you really enjoy dark chocolate. 

Brookies 
(adapted from Got Milk? The Cookie Book by Peggy Cullen

Yields approximately 12 cookies, each made with 2 tablespoons of dough.
Make sure not to over-bake these cookies. It really spoils the texture of the cookie.
  
2 cups of good quality semisweet chocolate chips (11.5 ounces)
6 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon instant coffee
1 cup flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Melt 1 ½ cups of chocolate chips and the butter in the top of a double boiler.  Stir to blend the chocolate and butter.  Set aside to cool (approximately 20-30 minutes).

Mix together in a small cup the vanilla and coffee.

In a medium bowl beat together the eggs and sugar. 

Add the vanilla/coffee mixture to the egg mixture and beat for about a minute.
Add the cooled chocolate mixture and mix well.

Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Then stir into the batter.
Stir in the remaining ½ cup chocolate chips.

To get 3 inch diameter cookies, form each ball from 2 tablespoons of dough; chill in the freezer or refrigerator until firm.  At this point you can freeze the dough in an air-tight container until you are ready to bake the cookies.

Optional- dip each ball of dough into sugar before baking. This emphasizes the cracks on the surfaces of the cookie.

Bake at 325 degrees for 14-15 minutes.  Do not over-bake; centers of the cookies will be slightly soft.  Let sit for 5 minutes before moving to let the cookie firm up.
Junior Cookie Monster Meal

3 comments:

  1. These look so good, I can't wait to try the recipe! And your photos are so excellent!
    Janet

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  2. Wonderful recipe and photos! My only problem - there's no way that I could let these delish cookies sit for 5 minutes after baking (let alone resist eating those raw cookie balls right off the cookie sheet)! Thank you for a such a sweetly composed and illustrated post!

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  3. I can now attest that these cookies taste as delicious as they look! Thanks for a great recipe!

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