Magnifico!: Scharffen Berger chocolate chunk cookies

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January 11, 2008

Scharffen Berger chocolate chunk cookies

Telltale scenario #538: How to know you married the perfect man

Your hubby has come up for a visit and, alas, you have to go to a boring lunch for work. You'd pleaded to get out of it, and even your "but I only get to see my husband every three months" argument had fallen on deaf ears. So you go, you eat some awful food, and before long you're back home and you find that not only has he mown the lawn, he has made you a batch of your favorite chocolate chunk cookies.

True story!

Sorry ladies, he's off the market.

Nikon D50

Now, these cookies that my wonderful husband made for me hold a special place in my heart. It's not for any sentimental reason, it's just because they're so chock-full of really good chocolate. Perhaps I haven't made it totally clear in this blog thus far, but I'm a total chocolate freak. Not for crappy mass-produced Hersey's, but for the good stuff - as is evidenced by my chocolate stash (yes, all of those striped packages are Scharffen Berger). I'm by no means exclusive in my smittenness - I give my love not to just one but to a select few.

Nikon D50

So, unsurprisingly, cookies like this that use good chocolate and a lot of it are right up my alley. I made these cookies last week and gave them away and have been tormented by their memory since - why oh why was I feeling so altruistic???

I wasn't so tortured the first time I made them and they were part of the care package that I sent to Jeremy when he was studying for the Bar. He rated these as an A- and said "as plain old boring chocolate chip cookies go, they're superb."

Nikon D50

A-, in my mind, is about right. I've already made them better than that batch - I originally used Lindt Swiss bittersweet and Ghirardelli milk but in my most recent batch, Scharffen Berger 70% bittersweet and 41% extra rich milk was the chocolate I chose. They're still not absolutely perfect and they could use a small improvement. To give these cookies just a tad more texture and complex chocolate flavor (but not more sweetness), I think they would benefit from some cacao nibs being stirred in.

It could be that those little nibs will be the key to finally getting that A.

Nikon D50

Printer-friendly version

Scharffen Berger chocolate chunk cookies
From The Essence of Chocolate

Makes about two dozen cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup bread flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

16 tablespoons (1 cup or 2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

9 ounces 70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chip-size chunks

2 1/2 ounces 41% milk chocolate, chopped into chip-size chunks

Position the racks in the lower and upper thirds of the over and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift together both flours, the baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and both sugars on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until pale, light, and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the bowl. Reduce the speed to low, add the dry ingredients, and mix until the flour is completely blended, scraping the bowl as necessary.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the chocolate chunks until evenly distributed. If you aren't baking the dough right away, you can refrigerate it now, well wrapped, for up to 1 week or freeze it for up to 1 month.

Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto the prepared pans. Flatten each cookie slightly. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Mix in about 1/4 cup nibs when you fold in the chocolate chunks. This is an experimental amount - I haven't tried it yet but it sounds delectable.

Posted by Jitterbean Girl at 7:40 PM | chocolate, sweet | Printer-friendly version | Comments (2)

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Comments

Oh my. That last picture... I'm not sure if it's disastrously dangerous for someone "eating healthy" to look at or perhaps, really, a small piece of heaven...

Wow.

Posted by: melissa | February 9, 2008 4:34 PM

Oh you were definitely right about those cookies being disastrously dangerous for someone watching what they eat! They go down all too easy with a nice glass of milk...

Posted by: Jitterbean Girl | February 9, 2008 7:20 PM