Thursday, August 26, 2010

Back by popular demand.


I know I've been a very bad blogger. I sorry. :(

BUT! But, but, but!

Ok, I don't have a really good "but" (though Jeremy would argue that my butt is very nice), but I have a good recipe to share, which should hopefully make up for my tardiness in posting.

A few weeks back, Jeremy had a get-together at his place to test out "The Ingredient." Whilst the chili (I'm not sure why I have such a hard time remembering whether that word has one or two Ls...) was cooking, I decided to make some baked treats for the hungry guests waiting in the living room. Jeremy had requested his favorite type of cookie be made: the chocolate chocolate chip. And, so, I happily obliged. How could I resist an opportunity to partake in one of my favorite activities and test it on a bunch of friends?

Anyway, I used a recipe I found on Epicurious.com that was actually meant for chocolate mocha sandwich cookies. That seemed like a lot of work for some quick baking, so I just decided to make the cookie part.

Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies with Mocha Cream Filling

COOKIES ONLY!!!

  • 1 cup all purpose flour - Yep
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder - Mhmm
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda - Oh yes... I should probably purchase some new stuff, but it will do.
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt - okie
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature - Room temp is always important when blending!
  • 2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar - Oh dear, only had dark brown... it's ok. Dark brown sugar actually has more molasses in it, which makes it sweeter. Since I wasn't going to do the mocha filling, the extra sweetness here may have made up for it. (Here's more info on the difference between brown sugars)
  • 1/4 cup sugar - Gotta love the white and brown sugar mixes!
  • 1 large egg - Sure
  • 2 teaspoons water - Easy enough
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract - Got it
  • 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules - I always have this on hand. Most chocolate baking recipes call for it and if they don't, then you should consider adding a little in... it helps bring out the natural flavor of chocolate. My boss actually taught me that trick. :)
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (about 12 ounces) - I used chocolate chunks instead. According to David Lebovitz chocolate chips were actually manufactured to prevent the chocolate melting in the oven. Chocolate chunks, however, do melt, which, of course, makes for a gooeyer (is that a word?) cookie. NOM.
  • 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped - I cut these out since they're really polarizing with guests... and lots of people have weird nut allergies these days. Why take the risk?

So, with all the above in mind, I set out to make these chocolatey cookies. And, let me tell you, they were a hit. Made me feel all warm and gooey inside, all analogy intended. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time or space or camera to really capture all this on film at the time.

BUT! But, but, but! But, Jeremy asked me to make these cookies again last night after we cooked some delicious pasta - which I believe he will post about soon - and watched Kick-Ass. And so, I did!

Everyone loves a good picture. Or five.

Sugar and butter! (I love how brown sugar sticks to the measuring cup.)



Dry ingredients! (I used a wisk to get the lumps out rather than sifting... tsk, tsk Thrifty Sifter.)

I can't even begin to explain how much I love this thing.


 Mostly because it does awesome things like this:
(Psssst. You with the hawk-eyes. You noticed that I used chocolate chips the second time. 
This was because no one had stupid chunks. The chips were just fine!)



NOM!

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM!


Finally, a but I can follow up!

Icing: Tori Amos - Abnormally Attracted To Sin (album)