The Chocolatiest, Last-Minutiest Cookie
Plus: I bake an apple-raspberry crisp with THE Pete Dominick.
I realized that after three years of recipes and posts (!!) here on Substack, I’ve had the same image of chocolate cookies in the header, but never-ever shared the recipe for them. They are one of my go-to cookies, when I need chocolate an immersive chocolate experience, and I promise I wasn’t trying to be coy and keep them from you.
They are like a flourless chocolate cake in drop cookie form.
If you offer them to friends who claim them to be “too rich,” you are to snatch the cookie away from their lips. They don’t understand. These are for people who want and need chocolate in a full-on sort of way.
Note:
Use the best chocolate you can find. Guittard chips are my mainstay and worth the extra cost. Ghiradelli is nice, too.
And hey, for those that care, these are also gluten-free. And if gluten-free doesn’t matter to you, you can substitute all-purpose flour
Pete Dominick showing off his kitchen juggling skills.
And before we get to the recipe, It’s also the third anniversary of The Secret Life of Cookies podcast. My very special guest this week is Pete Dominick. You can listen, maybe while baking cookies, or the same apple-raspberry crisp Pete and I made. The recipe is below.
As most of you know, Pete is the host of the Stand Up! With Pete Dominick podcast, and this week he has a truly hilarious new stand-up show you can find on YouTube.
Looking for a last-minute gift idea? Why not give them the gift of The Secret Life of Cookies newsletter, with its bi-weekly posts of recipes and kitchen history? Starting in January, I’ll be sharing many more stories about the kitchen and food lore.
REALLY VERY CHOCOLATEY COOKIES
Yield: 3 dozen cookies, enough for one person. (I kid. That said, I always make a double batch. These freeze well.)
What You Need:
1/4 cup almond flour (24 grams) (you can substitute all-purpose flour )
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups (12 ounces/322 grams) semisweet chocolate pieces (divided into two equal portions)
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter
2/3 cup (133 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
What You Do:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large, heat-safe mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt 1 cup (6 ounces) of the chocolate chips, the unsweetened chocolate and butter. Stir occasionally. When melted, remove from the heat and let the mixture cool.
To the cooled chocolate mixture add the sugar, eggs and vanilla and beat well (I use a wooden spoon). And the flour and mix until just blended, being sure to scrape down the sides, and scoop up from the bottom to make sure all the flour is incorporated. Stir in the remaining chips.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls ( a small ice cream scoop really helps here) onto the sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the cookies crack and look dull. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before eating them.
Raspberry-Apple Crumble a la Rothkopf
Dedicated to Pete Dominick, star of my third anniversary podcast episode.
What You’ll Need:
For the crumble:
8 tablespoons butter (113 grams), softened, cut into 16 pieces
1 tablespoon butter for buttering the dish
½ cup (78 grams) rolled oats
3/4 cup (90 grams) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (128 grams) light brown sugar
Pinch or two of salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
For the filling:
3 pounds of apples (baking type apples preferred, such as Rome, Cortland or Macoun, but a nice mix of Golden Delicious, Gala and others is good, too)
2 to 3 cups (250 or more) fresh or frozen raspberries (if using frozen, do not thaw them)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch or flour
Zest of one lemon
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon or orange juice
Pinch of salt
What You’ll Do:
1. Preheat the oven to 375° F.
2. Butter a 2-quart dish. Since no one really knows what a 2-quart dish is, I say, like an 8 x 10” baking dish.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, sugar and salt. Toss in the butter and work it into the flour mixture with your fingers. Set aside.
4. Chop (and peel, if feeling fancy) the apples into ½- and ¾-inch chunks and put them in a large bowl. Add the sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, flour (or corn starch) and toss to coat the apples. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Add the raspberries on top, then sprinkle the crumble mixture over the top.
5. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until bubbling and the crisp is golden. If, by some chance, your crisp starts to get too crisp before the fruit mixture starts to bubble, cover loosely with a piece of foil.
6. Let cool slightly from molten to pleasantly warm. I like mine with ice cream. This will surprise no one.
You can follow Pete on Threads, too
And for all of you who made it this far down, here is a picture of Calvin, being forced to wear a lovely Christmas hat.
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Would the chocolaty cookies work with oat flour? I try to avoid almonds if I can.
The crumble looks grand!
I make the chocolate cookies probably once a month. I take half to work and they are always gone by lunch!