CHOCOLATE EXTREMES

Chocolate Extremes (Double Chocolate Cookies)

MOLLY O'NEILL

• YIELD
About 18 large cookies

• TIME
30 minutes

These provocatively named cookies came to The Times in a 1999 Sunday Magazine article about Mrs. London's Bake Shop, a husband and wife owned bakery in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., known for their sweets. While the name suggests these cookies might veer into the too sweet and too rich category, they do not. Shiny and crackly on top while tender and deeply chocolaty in the center, they're like an ideal brownie in cookie form. They're kind of perfect.

(One note: The recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate, but feel free to use semisweet or a combination of the two. 

INGREDIENTS

• 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, preferably Valrhona, finely chopped, plus 6 ounces cut into 1/4 to 1/2-inch chunks

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1 tablespoon brewed espresso

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature

• 7 tablespoons sugar

• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

• 7 tablespoons sifted cake flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

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PREPARATION

1 Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In the top of a double boiler set over simmering water, combine the finely chopped bittersweet chocolate, butter and espresso. Stir occasionally until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

2 Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine eggs and sugar and whip until the mixture is light in color and increases substantially in volume, about 10 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract. Stir in the melted chocolate. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder and fold them into the chocolate mixture until just combined. Fold in the pecans and chocolate chunks.

3 Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons onto the paper, leaving about 2 inches between each. Bake until the cookies are slightly puffed and cracked on the outside but gooey inside, about 10 to 14 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheets.

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COOKING NOTES

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Lee Norris2 years ago

These cookies are lethally delicious. Not as time consuming as their creator, Wendy London, (not credited here) would have you believe. There is no need to chop up the nine ounces of chocolate in tiny bits to melt. Just throw  big pieces into the double boiler and heat will do the rest. Nor do you have to apply a ruler to be sure you've chopped the 6 ounces into 1/2" chunks. Just eyeball it, and so what if they're smaller. The recipe makes way more than 18.

60 This is helpful

Margaux Laskey, Staff Editor1 year ago

These cookies are really something special. Super good, uber-chocolatey. A shiny, crackly surface yields to a tender, brownie-like center. I used a combination of bittersweet, semisweet and milk chocolate b/c that's what I had in my pantry, and they were a big hit with the NYT Cooking staff.

50 This is helpful

Patricia1 year ago

Oh, lordy! Delicious and not cloyingly sweet. I made them with a gluten-free flour, as is my habit, and they were splendid. I did pinch some grains of salt on the top, and thought that added a lot to the flavor. I was lucky to have given away a dozen of these as Valentine's gifts, or else I'd have scarfed them all. Every recipient raved.

15 This is helpful

Misty1 year ago

"9  ounces bittersweet chocolate, preferably Valrhona, finely chopped, plus 6 ounces cut into *-inch chunks"

From reading other comments I've deduced that "*-inch chunks" likely means "1/2-inch chunks," but all I'm seeing is the asterisk. Can someone look into this and update the recipe with the correct amount please? Thanks!