Confessions of a Mediocre Cook: Rich Cocoa Cookies

As you know, I am a dark chocoholic. And on Friday, I needed a fix. I'd had my eye on a recipe, which I tweaked just a tad.

Let me just say: Yowza. And since I love you, I'll share. The recipe, that is.


Rich Cocoa Cookies

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temp
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or kosher salt)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and line with parchment paper. Mix together butter and sugar til smooth. Add eggs and vanilla, being careful not to overmix, and scrape down sides of bowl. Add cocoa powder and mix well. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until well blended. Drop by teaspoonsful onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for 10-14 minutes, or until edges begin to firm up. Do NOT overbake. Cool on racks. Let cookie sheet cool between batches.

Optional mix-ins: chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, any sort of nut, dried cranberries, or broken-up peppermints.

* I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa, which is appreciably darker than regular cocoa. I like to think that makes a difference, but what do I know about it?

Look at that. Dark chocolate perfection. It doesn't get any better.

The dough was heavenly. Tiny Girl, not a dark chocolate fan herself, gobbled as much dough as I would give her. But since I wanted to make some actual baked cookies, I cut her off. I had to cut off Miss Priss and myself, too. It was getting ridiculous.

Crispy yet chewy fabulousness on a plate.

I made one third plain, one third with chocolate chips, and one third with Craisins. Miss Priss and I like the ones with chocolate chips best. Big surprise there. I'd like them with toasted pecans, too, but no one else  here likes nuts in baked goods. If I'd made any with nuts, I would have had to eat them all by myself. Not a good idea.

Here's an advertisement in real life:

Me, as I snatched another cookie off the cooling rack: "I can't stop eating these!"
Miss Priss: "I know! I've had six already."

An inspiration! Sandwich softened ice cream between two cookies and freeze a bit to cut down on drippage. How's that for a summertime treat?

Update! These turned out crunchier than I usually like, but they are fantastic dipped in hot tea or coffee. Next time, I may make them with half butter and half shortening to see if it makes them chewier.