Chocolate Upon Chocolate Chip Cookies
...with Barbara McQuade, my guest on The Secret Life of Cookies podcast
I baked chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Again. I tweaked an earlier recipe for Levain-style chocolate chip cookies to create an all-chocolate cookie packed with chips of all varieties.
I made them for my Secret Life of Cookies podcast this week. My guest was Barbara McQuade, Lawyer Extraordinaire, and we talked about the most interesting TV show on this week, the January 6 Commission hearing. I love me some prime time hearings, and can’t believe I must wait weeks for another.
I methodically shaped and baked these while Barbara and I talked over Josh Hawley’s gazelle-like leaps through the hallways of Congress, how the vice president’s Secret Service detail feared for their lives and why Supreme Court justices shouldn’t be arrogant. After speaking with Barbara, I now also feel much better about the DOJ’s seemingly slow progress.
It helps that I have warm chocolate chocolate chip cookies within reach.
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And Now, The Recipe:
The recipe that follows makes a thick, soft cookie with a just-crunchy outside. I used whole wheat flour, oat flour and almond flour instead of the usual all-purpose white flour. It bumps the nutritional content up, and also adds to the cookies tenderness.
Things to know when making them:
You can make these cookies large (3-ounce balls of dough…about 3 1/2-inches in diameter), or smaller 2-inch balls.
Note I ask for cold eggs, because the recipe calls for a long creaming time. Cold eggs prevents the dough from turning into a melty pool. Good hack, yes?
I used white “chocolate,” semi-sweet and peanut butter chips in mine. The key is to have a lot of bits and pieces in them. Feel free to play around. Let me know what you try!
Chocolate Upon Chocolate Chip Cookies
What You’ll Need:
1/2 cup (4 ounces) butter, softened
1/2 cup (4 ounces) light brown sugar
1/2 cup (about 3 1/2 ounces) white sugar
2 large eggs, cold
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup (3 ounces) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (2 ounces) Dutch process cocoa powder (not cocoa drink mix!)
3/4 cups (2 1/2 ounces) almond flour
3/4 cups (2 1/2 ounces) oat flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
A generous 16 ounces of mix-ins. I used a mix of white, semi-sweet and peanut butter.
What You’ll Do:
In a small bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
In a stand- or with a hand-mixer, cream the butter, white sugar and light brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Please scrape down the sides!
Add the vanilla and beat until just combined.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until the eggs look absorbed into the batter.
Add the flour-cocoa mixture and mix until the flour mixture is just moistened. Add in the chocolate chips, etc. and mix on low speed until combined.
Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours, or ideally, 8 hours to let the whole wheat and oat flours hydrate. If you are like me, however, you will bake some of the dough right away. Just promise me you’ll leave the rest to chill in the fridge, so you can see what a difference chilling the dough makes.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Shape dough into balls about 3 1/2-inches in diameter for large cookies, 2 inches for smaller. The dough will spread, so leave at least 3 inches between cookies. Bake cookies for about 15 to 17 minutes for large balls, 12 to 15 for smaller ones. The exterior should look dry. Oven temperatures vary, so keep tweaking your timing until you are pleased.
Let cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Enjoy.
Hope you enjoy!
My big question is: Do I make something now with peaches or blueberries? Please lmk.
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