Ultimate Chocolate Cookie Book - Bruce Weinstein [54]
4 days at room temperature
2 months in the freezer after baking
Personalize It!
Chocolate Apple Pinwheels: Reduce the almonds to 1/4 cup; add 1/2 cup finely chopped dried apples with the remaining almonds.
Chocolate Coconut Pinwheels: Substitute unsweetened coconut chips for the almonds. Chocolate Currant Pinwheels: Reduce the almonds to 1/4 cup; add 1/2 cup dried currants with the remaining almonds.
Chocolate Pecan Pinwheels: Substitute finely chopped pecans for the almonds.
CHOCOLATE PRETZELS
You’ll fake out your friends with these dark, chocolaty pretzel-shaped cookies. They look amazingly like the real thing—especially if you use clear coarse sugar, which looks like salt crystals. We’ve given these to friends who claim they taste the salt on the outside! No way—it’s pure chocolate bliss all the way through.
MAKES ABOUT 18 COOKIES
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder, preferably natural, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) cool, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg white, whisked with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl until foamy
1/2 cup clear sanding sugar or clear coarse sugar (see page 20)
1. Place the chocolate in a small bowl and microwave on high for 15 seconds. Stir, then continue heating and stirring in 15-second increments until half the chocolate has melted. Remove the bowl from the microwave oven and continue stirring until all the chocolate has melted. Alternatively, place the chocolate in the top half of a double boiler set over about 1 inch of simmering water; stir until half the chocolate has melted, then remove the double boiler’s top half from the heat and continue stirring until all the chocolate has melted. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
2. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl until uniformly colored; set aside.
3. Soften the butter in a large bowl, using an electric mixer at medium speed, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat until light and airy, about 1 more minute. Beat in the egg, then the vanilla until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat in the melted chocolate, pouring it into the bowl in a thin, steady stream with the beaters running. Turn off the beaters, pour in the prepared flour mixture, and beat at a very low speed just until a somewhat soft, pliable, but not smooth dough forms. Gather the dough into a ball while it’s still in the bowl, then cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes so that the glutens begin to set up.
4. Meanwhile, position the racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven; preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat; set aside.
5. Scoop out 2 tablespoons of the dough and roll it out into a 10-inch rope on a clean, dry work surface. Dust with flour if necessary. With the rope in front of you horizontally, curve the left end up and over a point about a third of the way in from the right end, then curve the right end up and over a point about a third of the way from the original left end—in other words, creating a pretzel. Place on the prepared sheet and brush lightly with the egg-white wash. Sprinkle liberally with the sanding or coarse sugar. Repeat with the remaining dough, making more pretzels and spacing them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.
6. Bake for 7 minutes, then reverse the sheets back to front and top to bottom. Continue baking for about 7 more minutes, or until the cookies are set but somewhat springy to the touch. Cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Cool the baking sheets for 5 minutes before baking additional batches, if necessary.
Recommended storage
4 days at room temperature
2 months in the freezer
CHOCOLATE RAVIOLI COOKIES
These cookies are like round ravioli: tender, buttery cookie shells encasing a classic