Chocolate Chunkers

Let me tell you a dirty secret.

I don't love brownies.

At least, I thought I loved brownies, but then I ate one of these cookies and decided that I would never eat a brownie again.

To be honest, brownies have a boring texture. They're either fudgey or cakey. And that's about it. Maybe there's a little crunch in the brownie because there's pecans or walnuts, but to be completely frank, there aren't very many people who love nuts in their brownies.

I know this from experience.

These cookies are an Experience, they are a beautiful cross between all that is good in a brownie (chocolate) and a cookie (crunch, exciting texture, chocolate chips, deliciousness, unfussyness.)

They are exciting to eat, because there are so many chips and chunks. While still hot out of the oven they're oozey and gooey. When they've cooled in the fridge they become little hockey pucks of chocolatey bliss.

Disclaimer: They are not for the faint of heart. They are rich. There is a lot of chocolate.

As always, these are from the forever wonderful Dorie Greenspan. She calls them wonderful in italics. So of course I had to make them.

xoxo

Chocolate Chunkers

from Baking:From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetedned cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter cut into three pieces

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 cup store-bought chocolate chips/chunks

6 ounces best quality white-chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 cup store-bought chips/chunks

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped nuts, preferably salted peanuts or toasted pecans

1 cup moist, plump raisins or finely chopped apricots

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Add the butter, bittersweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate and heat, stirring occasionally, just until melted--the chocolate and butter should be smooth and shiny but not so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the heat and set it on the counter to cool.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or witha hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar togetehr on medium-hight speed for about 2 minutes, until they are pale and foamy. Beat int he vanilla extract, then scrape down the bowl. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the melted butter and chocolate, mixing only until incorporated. WIth a rubber spatula, scrape down the vowl, then, on low speed, add the dry ingredients. Mix just until the dry ingredients dissappear into the dough, which will be thick, smooth and shiny. Scrape down the bowl and, using the rubber spatula, mix in the semi-swet and milk (or white) chocolate chunks, nuts and raisins, you'll have more crunchies than dough at this point. (The dough can be wrapped in plastic and kept refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

Drop the dough by generously heaping tablespoons onto the baking sheets, leaving about an inch of space between the mounds of dough.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes. The tops of the cookies will look a little dry but the interiors should still be soft. Remove the caking sheet and carefully, using a broad metal spatula, lift the cookies onto a cooling rack to cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remaining dough, baking only one sheet of cookies at a time and making sure to cool the baking sheets between batches.

If, when the cookies are cooled, the chocolate is still gooey and you'd like it to be a bit firmer, just pop the cookies into the fridge for about 10 minutes.