Ooey Gooey Double Chocolate Cookies
What is it with me and ooey gooey baked goods lately? Maybe that is a question with an answer so obvious it doesn’t even need asking. Because who doesn’t love an ooey gooey baked good? It is interesting, though, this spate of “ooey gooey” titled recipes. Clearly, the word is out.
These cookies, I have to say, might have been even better than the Ooey Gooey Butter Bars from a few weeks ago (oh my, was it only a few weeks ago?). Why might these be better? Because these are ooey, gooey, buttery, and chocolatey. Very, very chocolatey. Three kinds of chocolate chocolatey: unsweetened cocoa powder, melted unsweetened chocolate, and chunks of bittersweet chocolate.
This whole cookie, in fact, seems just to be a ploy to eat chunks of bittersweet chocolate, in some presentable manner. There are more bittersweet chocolate chunks than cookie in this cookie, which is part of what makes them so ooey gooey. And then, the cookie itself, which has hardly any flour, is also an ooey gooey wonderment. As for the chocolate, the recipe suggests buying chunks or chips of bittersweet chocolate. I bought bakers’ squares and chopped them up myself, which was a bit of labor, but very worth it (I think) because chopping yourself produces a variety of chunk sizes — some big chunks, some chip sizes, and lots of chocolate shavings which will more or less melt into the cookie and make everything all the more delicious.
Make sure you have time to chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour — that’s what helps you scoop the otherwise almost batter-like dough. Other than the chilling time and the chocolate-chopping time (and effort), these are a breeze to make. A breeze totally disproportionate to the looks of amazement that will be on your friends’ faces as they bite into one, and the looks of calculated casualness when they bring them up — again and again and again — in the days to follow.
Ooey-Gooey Double-Chocolate Cookies
Makes 36 cookies
Adapted from the LA Times, adapted in turn from Milk in Los Angeles.
Ingredients
- 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 are easiest, but I used a baking bar I cut up myself for both economy and deliciousness)
1. In a bowl set over a pot of simmering water (or a smaller pot inside a larger pot), 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.
6. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line a couple baking sheets with parchment (ahead of time, since your hands are about to get sticky). Try to use one hand to scoop the dough with and the other to handle it, that way only one hand gets super-sticky. Scoop out dough to make cookies the size of your choosing – the original recipe said it made 18 cookies, but I wanted smaller ones and used about a tablespoon of dough for each, yielding 36 in total.
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 completely before serving (this is most desirable, but for those of us without cooling racks, I just left the cookies on the pan for a few minutes and then picked up the whole piece of parchment and placed it on a cool counter surface). They will be very soft, but will firm up as they cool.
