Over the last month I was sent some absolutely amazing chocolate by Cacao Barry to try baking with. It was really hard not to just sit down and eat it all in one sitting, but we managed. Along with some Madagascar vanilla from the Vanilla Food Company, I was confident that I could make some really amazing cookies, I just needed the right recipe.
That's when Green and Blacks sent me their Ultimate Chocolate Recipe collection. As far as I'm concerned, you can never have too many chocolate cookbooks and this one had me so excited to find new recipes to try.
These cookies are amazing-truly decadent; chewy and yet thin, with big hunks of rich dark chocolate throughout. I won't lie and deny that they are probably so good because of the quality of the chocolate, vanilla, and butter, so I'm asking that for this recipe, you find the very best quality chocolate you can.
We used Cacao Berry's 70% Cuba and 70% Saint-Domingue which upon tasting, were declared our favorites out of the bunch. So creamy and delicious yet still dark, they were the perfect match for these cookies. You could substitute milk chocolate if you wanted to. If you are interested in buying some of the chocolate yourself to try, The Vanilla Food Company also sells it. I don't know...once tasting how amazing such quality ingredients are in baking, it will be very hard to go back to mediocre, and I think I'll be placing an order!
Adapted from Green and Black's Ultimate Chocolate Recipes
9 tbsp (or 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup muscovado sugar (I used a dark brown sugar, it was fine)
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup rolled oats
7 oz dark (70% cocoa solids, or less if you prefer) chocolate, chopped into chunks
Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
Cream your butter together with the sugars on low speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Beat in the eggs and then the vanilla, until well combined. Scrape down the bowl again.
In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and blend on low speed until just combined. Stir in the oatmeal and the chocolate by hand.
Now here is where the instructions get interesting, as I've never done this with cookies before; chill the dough for about 20 minutes or so. Line your baking sheets with parchment, because the melting chocolate will stick to the pans. You don't want to waste amazing chocolate, that's for sure. These babies are FULL of chocolate.
Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
Scoop out the dough, about 2-3 tbsp at a time and roll in your palms to about the size of a ping pong ball. Place on the parchment lined sheets about 3 inches apart or so, and flatten the balls slightly with the palm of you hand as you go. These babies will spread nicely and look fairly flat. Don't worry, they stay chewy. (This is why you chill the dough. Chilled dough = chewy). Once you have filled up one pan, place the remaining dough in the fridge to keep cold until you need to scoop them out.
Bake them, one pan at a time (because I'm anal like that), in the middle of your oven for about 10-12 minutes. The edges will become browned and while the tops will look a bit squooshy, keep a very close eye in the last 2 minutes or so because they will set up just slightly. Remove the pan from the stove and let the cookies sit there for about 5 minutes before removing them to a metal rack to cool completely.
Makes about one and a half dozen, depending on how much cookie dough you eat.
