world peace cookies.

Dorie has many wonderful chocolate recipes, like her chocolate chunker cookies and quintuple chocolate brownies... And of course, this too! Personally though, despite many rave review about this cookie, I prefer her chocolate chunkers. Sadly, I made those way before I started this blog so I can't show you it's awesomeness.

But I can provide you with a description. Please get your napkins ready: A dense, chocolaty, fudgy brownie-like mound, packed with tart cranberries, salty peanuts and creamy milk and white chocolate chunks. I took Dorie's advice and refrigerated them and what I got was just phenomenal- like the best chocolate bar chock full of contrasting, yet complementary, textures and tastes. They are quite huge cookies, yet I always manage to find room for two!

Oops, I digressed. The world peace cookies are soft cookies which are slightly crumbly at the edges. They are easy to make too- just slice and bake them. Take note please, that the method is like those ice-box cookies (because of the slice and bake step), but unlike those sort of cookies, these expand much much more. So do not place them too close to each other!

You know what though, give me my chocolate chunkers any day.

World Peace Cookies
recipe from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan
makes 36

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

Turn off the mixer. Pour in the flour, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

GETTING READY TO BAKE:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.

SERVING:
The cookies can be eaten when they are warm or at room temperature — I prefer them at room temperature, when the textural difference between the crumbly cookie and the chocolate bits is greatest — and are best suited to cold milk or hot coffee.

STORING:
Packed airtight, cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days; they can be frozen for up to 2 months.


Linked to These Chicks Cooked, Full Plate Thursday, Sweet Treats Thursday, Fat Camp Friday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Sweets for a Saturday, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Sweet Indulgences Sunday.