Chocolate coated cookies. And a gift

I have met so many wonderful people through blogging that if I start listing them it will take me days!

One of these friends I’ve made is a talented and gifted young lady, who happens to be not only a great cook but also an artist – Hannah, of the beautiful BitterSweet.

We always write to each other and I’m really glad we’ve met.

The lovely duckling is a gift she sent me by mail – isn’t it just adorable? I have been meaning to show it here forever, but I wanted to photograph it with some nice food.

These cookies are delicious and the only bad thing about this recipe is that the chocolate coating never set. The cookies were a bit messy to eat, but nobody complained about that! :)

You’ll get 2-3 tablespoons of coating left – it is fantastic over ice cream or brownies.

Hannah, my dear friend, thank you for the gift! I loved it!

Chocolate coated cookies
from Big Fat Cookies

Cookies:
2 cups (280g) unbleached all purpose flour
½ cup (45g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks/226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (200g) sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dark chocolate coating:
6 ½ ounces (182g) dark chocolate, chopped – I used 60% cocoa solids*
1 ½ tablespoons canola or corn oil

Make the cookies: Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, beat the butter and sugar until blended and lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until blended, about 1 minute. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until it is incorporated and the batter looks smooth. Cover and refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes to firm it slightly.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 165ºC/325ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll heaping tablespoons** of dough between the palms of your hands into smooth balls, and place them in 5cm (2 inches) apart in the prepared baking sheets.
Using the palm of your hand, flatten the cookies to 2 ½-to 3-inch rounds.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and look dull rather than shiny, about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cook completely.

Make the chocolate coating: Put the chocolate and the oil in a heatproof container or the top of a double boiler, and place it over, but not touching, a saucepan of barely simmering water (or the bottom of the double boiler). Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the water and let the chocolate coating cool and thicken slightly, about 20 minutes.

Spoon the chocolate coating over the top of the cookies and use the back of the spoon t to spread the chocolate evenly and coat them completely. If some chocolate drizzles over the cookies edges, that is fine.
Let the cookies sit at room temperature until the chocolate if firm. Or to speed the firming of the chocolate, refrigerate the cookies for about 20 minutes, then remove them from the refrigerator.

Makes 52 cookies

* you can use the following mixture, according to the book: 6 ounces (168g) semisweet chocolate + ½ ounce (14g) unsweetened chocolate
** if you prefer to make giant cookies, roll 3 leveled tablespoons of dough for each cookie – you should get 18-20 cookies.