I'm pretty set in my ways when it comes to the cookies I bake for the holidays. For years, our cookie boxes consisted of the chewy, snickerdoodles, and spritz. Not a big variety, but some of tastiest cookies I make.
Last year, Valerie found a chocolate cookie recipe that she wanted to try. She wanted to make them for Christmas, to boot. Skeptical, I agreed to include them, and we made a batch. The cookies turned out delicious and they become a welcome addition to our Christmas cookie lineup.
The best way I can describe these cookies are as a chocolate snickerdoodle. They are moist and chewy on the inside with slightly crispy edges. We make them the same size as our snickerdoodles and roll them in sugar before baking. They have a really nice chocolate flavor, too. Kind of like a brownie cookie. Yum!
Top Secret Chocolate Cookies
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Additional sugar for garnish
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, add the butter and sugar and cream together with a hand mixer. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the creamed mixture and mix until combined.
In a medium bowl, mix the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients and continue mixing until incorporated. Roll the dough into walnut size balls, roll in sugar and place on wax paper lined baking sheet. Rrefrigerate for 2 hours.
Once thoroughly chilled, place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
luke! Merry Christmas! hey, do you find that the consistency of the butter affects how your cookies turn out? or is it just me?
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, Jeff! If you are referring to the consistency of the butter in comparison to shetening or margarine, I can't really comment because I have used only butter for so long.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, the consistency of the butter does matter as far as creaming it with the sugar before adding additional ingredients. For the most part, you want to start with room temperature butter and mix it with the sugar until you have a homogenous paste. The butter and sugar should be completely integrated and it should look like wet sand. If you mix them too much or too little, it will change the outcome of your cookie.