Friday, May 2, 2008

Chocolate lace cookies

Chocolate lace cookies

I first made these cookies in 2006, when I only blogged in Portuguese. I had just discovered Haalo’s blog and was blown away by the quality of her recipes and photos.

Those were the times when my oven temperature wasn’t so accurate – something I solved with an oven thermometer; the cookies turned out delicious, but too crisp. I even sent Haalo an email about her recipe and was surprised when she replied - I did not know then that you, my fellow foodies, are warm and kind.

As I thought of baking something for a colleague, these crossed my mind. And repeating a recipe is one thing I usually don’t do. This time they turned out crisp in the edges and soft in the middle – perfect, imho.

Chocolate lace cookies

100g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
80g butter, cubed
220g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten lightly
150g all purpose flour sifted with ¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
40g icing sugar, sifted

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate and butter. When fully melted, pour this into a medium sized bowl.

Add the caster sugar, egg and sifted flour, baking soda and cocoa. Mix well to amalgamate. Cover and place in the fridge for about 15 minutes or until the mixture firms up enough to handle.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/340ºF.

Roll leveled tablespoons of mixture into balls then roll generously in icing sugar - the look of the final cookie will depend on how well it's covered in icing sugar. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheets, set apart to allow for spreading. Bake for about 15 minutes. Cool slightly on the tray before moving to wire racks.

Makes between 24-36 cookies – I got 30

28 comments:

Maggie said...

The cookies look wonderfully dark and rich.
I agree with you they do look perfect!

Anonymous said...

These look wonderful, there is something about the shape of that dish and the photograph that makes these jump off the page...right into my mouth...yummy.

LyB said...

I love the crackled texture they have, so lovely! And the photo is beautiful, these look really delicious Patricia!

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Haalo is a source of inspiration, isn't she? And so are these chocolate lace cookies! They are deliciously dark and decadent!

brian said...

I love the crackle top on these.

Anonymous said...

Mmm, these look like they're perfectly rich and chewy...!

Sarah said...

Crispy around the edges and soft in the middle is just the way to have a cookie. Mmm.

Anonymous said...

They look the perfect cookie, crisp but chewy and chocolaty. What more could a girl ask for?

Anonymous said...

Patricia, I had the same problem. The first time I baked a loaf of bread in our oven I burnt it. So, I bought a thermometer and found out that my oven was 75 degrees hotter than the setting :(

Maybe it's a good excuse to get a new oven :)

Love the cookies!

Anonymous said...

they look perfect! perfect size and perfectly shaped :) so dark and yummy. i miss making cookies. x

Silvia - Magnolia Wedding Planner said...

Thanks for the recipe and thanks a lot for the link. that blog has stunning photos!
These cookies look delicious you should be proud of your baking abilities :-)
Silvia

Peter M said...

I want to nibble this cookie for an hour and make each taste last!

Dharm said...

Oh yum! These look just lovely! Just a thought Pat, if you are melting the butter, would we need to cube them anyway?!! I'm always trying to find the lazy way to do things....

Meeta K. Wolff said...

I'm with Dharm on this - why cube when melting? I realy like how rich these cookies look. So perfect!

Manggy said...

To answer the above comments-- if the butter is cubed, the chances that it will have melted before the chocolate has a chance to scorch will be better :) Of course, I do this in the microwave so I have no such problem ;)

Crispy outside and soft in the center? That is truly perfection, Patricia!

Tarah at Genesis of a Cook said...

Those look so rich and delicious! I wish I could reach into my computer screen and grab one!

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

This is one of my absolutely favorite cookies -- not too sweet, chewy in the middle. I don't suppose you have any leftovers?

Brilynn said...

Lovely photo, those cookies are very tempting!

Coffee and Vanilla said...

Beautiful, I love the plate too :)

Margot

Susan @ SGCC said...

I love fudgy cookies like this. They look wonderful!

Pat said...

Patricia, your cookies look yummy and I think this one will be joining the lime melting moments as some of my favs you have posted. Thanks!!! I have tagged you on my blog for a cookbook Meme.

Deborah said...

These look delicious, and like a recipe worth repeating!

jasmine said...

Hee! I always giggle when I get an email from someone thanking me/surprised that I'd reply to their email.

Of course we reply...I think it's because we are feeders and we want to make sure that people eat and eat well, but also it would be rude not to respond*!

j

* Well, except to smarmy markety people...we don't need to reply to that particular subset of markety people.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Margaret, they are very dark!

Cathy, I'm glad you feel this way, sweetie. ;)

LyB, thank you, darling!

Susan, she is!

Brian, I love that effect, too.

Hannah, very rich!

Sarah, I like cookies this way, too. :)

Kitchen Goddess, just a glass of cold milk to go with the cookies, nothing else. ;)

Chuck, my oven spoiled a pavlova, too! :S

Diva, bake some for yourself. ;)

Silvia, Haalo's blog is marvelous!
Thank you, darling!

Pete, I agree. ;)

Dharm, Manggy has answered your question.

Meeta, take a look at Manggy's comment, please. :)

Mark, tks for answering the other readers' questions, my friend.

Tarah, tks for visiting!

Lydia, they were gone in a heart beat. :)

Bri, thank you, dear!

Margot, that is one of my favorite plates, tks, darling!

Susan, thank you!

Pat, I'll check it out later, tks!

Deb, twice and I see them in my baking future again. :)

Jasmine, I couldn't agree with you more, sweetie. :)

Warda said...

I should remind myself that I should never come to yur blog hungry ;) Haalo is indeed a very generous and warm person.

ChichaJo said...

Oohlala! So dark and delicious! :) Your cookie posts always leave me craving!

Sarah said...

Wow, these look amazing! So glad you made them again. :) I love chocolate cookies.

Kelly-Jane said...

You've made so many lovely things recently, and these are just what I'd like to eat right now!

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