Chocolate Chubbies

Can you say chocolate?  More chocolate?  Then more chocolate?  A little peanut butter for kicks?  It's intense.  And it's good.  I have had my eye on these cookies since Christmas day when I cracked open one of my gifts, Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours.  She describes them as "the moistest, most intensely chocolate chocolate chip cookies in the world."  Wow.  That's serious.  And these are serious cookies.  They have a rich deep dark chocolate flavor...much like a brownie. 

The batter is fudgey.

 When they bake up they get that nice crackly top like a brownie.

 Then you break one of these bad boys open.....

Need I say more?

The chocolate chubby is great with a cold glass of milk. 

I suppose I should tell you about the recipe now.  There are 12 ounces of melted chocolate in the batter.  That's a lot.  And only 1/2 cup of flour.  That's not a lot for a cookie recipe.  Sarabeth Levine mixes in 2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips and nearly 3 cups of chopped pecans and walnuts.  I am not a fan of nuts in my cookies (or most sweet treats for that matter).  So I did deviate a bit from the recipe.  For my mix ins I used approximately 2 2/3 cups of a mix of milk chocolate chips (1 cup), peanut butter chips (1 cup) and semisweet chips (2/3 cup).  Given I was nearly 2 cups short on the mix ins, my cookies didn't come out quite as chubby as the ones pictured in the book.  I enjoyed this combination of mix ins, but I thought the peanut butter chips got a little lost in the chocolate.  Next time I want to throw in some white chocolate chips....and dare I say, some toasted almonds?  I know.  I just said that I don't like nuts in cookies.  Ok, I might have to think about it.  But the white chocolate chips are a definite. 

The recipe calls for superfine sugar.  If you don't have superfine sugar, you can make your own by grinding regular sugar in a food processor for a minute or two until the granules reduce in size by about half.  That's what I did.  I used my mini prep.  If you are considering purchasing a food processor but think a big one is just too much, check out the mini prep.  For $30 it's a great buy and can be used for a variety of things--from grinding nuts or chocolate, pureeing vegetables and even making fresh whipped cream (a tip I saw recently on Tracey's Culinary Adventures who saw it on another blog, who saw in the LA Times).

Keep a watchful eye on these cookies during baking.  The recipe says to bake them for 17 - 20 minutes.  I checked mine at 17 and they were done.  I think they could have come out at 15.  And unfortunately one tray was cooked for an undetermined amount of time because I never heard the timer go off.  Luckily I was able to salvage the cookies, but they were on the dry side.  Go for underdone versus overdone.

The chocolate chubby is a kick butt cookie.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Chubbies

by Sarabeth Levine from Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours 

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes

9 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (no more than 62 percent cacao), finely chopped

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/4 cups superfine sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups (5 1/2 ounces) coarsely chopped pecans

1 1/4 cups (4 1/2 ounces) coarsely chopped walnuts

Position racks in the center and top third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.  Line 2 half sheet pans with parchment paper.

Bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Put the butter in a wide heatproof bowl, and melt the butter over the hot water in the saucepan.  Add the semisweet and unsweetened chocolate, stirring often, until melted and the mixture is smooth.  Remove the bowl from the heat and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cooled slightly but still warm, about 5 minutes.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl.  Whip the eggs in the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium-high speed until the eggs are foamy and lightly thickened, about 30 seconds.  Increase the speed to high and gradually add the sugar, then the vanilla.  Whip until the eggs are very thick and pale yellow, about 3 minutes.  Reduce the mixer speed to medium and beat in the the tepid chocolate, making sure it is completely incorporated.  Change to the paddle attachment and reduce the mixer speed to low.  Gradually add the flour mixture.  Remove the bowl from the mixer.  Using a wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips, pecans, and walnuts, making sure the chunky ingredients are evenly distributed at the bottom of the bowl.  (Do not turn the dough out onto a work surface).

Using a 2 inch diameter ice-cream scoop, portion the batter onto the prepared pans, placing the cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart.  Bake the cookies immediately--if you wait, they won't be shiny after baking.  Bake, switching the position of the pans from top to bottom and front to back about halfway through baking, until the cookies are set around the edges (if you lift a cookie from the pan, the edges should release easily, even if the center of the cookie seems underdone), 17 to 20 minutes.  Do not over bake.  Cool completely on the baking pans.  (The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature, with the layers separated by parchment paper, for up to 3 days.)