Happy Halloween everyone! I love Halloween. Over the years I’ve always had a lot of fun dressing up in different costumes and baking Halloween treats. This year is going to be a bit more subdued: no costume party but a pumpkin carving party instead. I’ve actually never carved a pumpkin in my life, so it should be interesting! It’s not something that’s common in New Zealand. We’ve definitely gotten into the Halloween spirit there, but the pumpkin carving has yet to catch on.
If you’re a chocolate lover, you need to make these cookies. Crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside, these chocolate cookies are intense. The flavor is so rich thanks to the dutch-processed cocoa powder. The black cocoa gives them their wonderful black color. To tell you the truth, I didn’t have any dutch-processed cocoa in the apartment. So I thought I’d make the cookies with regular cocoa powder and black cocoa. They certainly lacked in chocolate flavor, which was disappointing. But it proved a point: If the recipe calls for a certain cocoa, stick to it! They are not usually interchangeable, especially in this case. So I went out and bought some dutch-process cocoa powder and made the cookies again. Wow, what a difference! The cookies had depth and really great flavor this time. I also added semi-sweet chocolate chips, because you can never have enough chocolate. As for the icing, you can use white chocolate if you don’t want to use candy melts, but you won’t get the bright white color. The tablespoon of butter or shortening helps ensure the consistency of the candy melts is just right for dipping the cookies into. Without it, the candy melts would be too thick. It’s a good idea to leave the bowl over the double boiler once the candy melts have melted and you’ve turned off the heat, so you won’t have any trouble with dipping. And finally, the pretty Halloween colored nonpareils add a delicious crunch to these fudgy cookies. Now, if only I could just stop eating them right before going to bed….
Yield: 24 cookies
Ingredients:
2 Cups (300g) all-purpose flour
3 Tablespoons dutch-processed cocoa powder (sifted)
3 Tablespoons black cocoa (sifted)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (226g) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup (100g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 bag white candy melts
1 Tablespoon butter or shortening
Halloween nonpareils
Method:
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powders (sifted), baking soda and salt. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars on medium-high until light and fluffy. Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time and the vanilla. Mix well.
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Add flour and cocoa mixture and mix until just combined. Chill dough for at least 1 hour or overnight.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Portion dough onto baking sheets (9 cookies per sheet). Bake for 12 minutes or until set.
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Cool on pans for 5 minutes then place on a wire rack to cool completely.
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Using a double boiler, melt the candy melts over medium heat with 1 Tablespoon of shortening or butter. Once melted, turn off heat but leave the double boiler on the element so the chocolate stays at a good consistency. Dip half of each cookie in the candy melts and place on parchment paper. Sprinkle with nonpareils and allow to set.
*Recipe adapted from livforcake.com
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