Chocolate Truffle Cookies

For Christmas this year, I was thrilled to receive quite a few Amazon gift cards. It doesn't get much better than Amazon, as far as I'm concerned. There's almost nothing I can't buy on Amazon, and since we have the Prime membership things ship quickly, which satisfies my need for instant gratification.

The only downside, at least for someone like me who is constantly paralyzed by indecision, is that there are almost *too* many choices. It's now the middle of February, nearly two months since Christmas, and guess what I've bought with my Amazon credit? Not one single thing. Oh sure, I've added plenty of items to my cart, but I can never seem to pull the trigger on any of them.

In related news, I've been hoarding the same $20 of iTunes credit for longer than I care to admit... :)



Anyway, a few weeks ago I decided to request a few new-ish cookbooks from my library to flip through, figuring maybe it'd be the push I needed to place an order and add one (or more) of them to my collection. A number of the books ended up coming in at the same time so there's an embarrassment of riches in my bookcase right now. It snowed (again!) here this weekend which meant I had plenty of time to start putting some of the recipes from these books to the test!

First up? The chocolate truffle cookies from The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook. I flagged these on my very first flip through the book, with a title like that they had Shane's name written all over them. These cookies are serious business - between the bittersweet chocolate melted into the dough and the chocolate chips stirred in before baking, this recipe has 2 pounds of chocolate in it! The good news is that weight measurements are provided for the ingredients, so you can easily scale back. That's exactly what I did, making 1/3 of the recipe below, yielding a very manageable 10 cookies.



The smell of these cookies baking is better than just about any candle I've ever burned in my house - it was torture waiting for them to cool so I could dig in! Shane walked in the door from an 18-mile run and these were waiting on the counter for him. He showed amazing restraint by eating lunch before he grabbed his first cookie, but once he did, he was hooked! These cookies are uber-chocolatey, with a chewy texture and that classic brownie-like crackled top. Seriously, so good! If you have a chocolate lover in your life, you have to make these for them.



Oh, and for the record, this cookbook is well on its way to ending my Amazon drought. I usually like to try at least two recipes from a book before ordering, but I'm half-tempted to order based solely on how much we loved this one.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies
barely adapted from The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook by Tom Douglas

1 1/4 cups (205 g) all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (20 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
20 oz (567 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
10 tablespoons (140 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups (460 g) sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups (340 g) mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second bursts on 50% power, stirring in between each, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly while you proceed with the dough.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until well combined, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating to incorporate before adding the next. Increase the mixer to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes until the dough is pale yellow in color and has a light, creamy consistency. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla and beat just until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients and the mini chocolate chips, and use a rubber spatula to fold them into the dough, mixing just until combined.

Immediately portion all of the dough into 2-oz portions using a large cookie scoop. Scoop all the dough now - it will firm up as it sits and become much more difficult to work with. Once you've portioned all the dough, space 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets (if you have more dough than room on the baking sheets, set the dough aside to bake after the first batch - do not refrigerate. Chilled dough won't bake properly.) Gently press down on the balls of dough to flatten them slightly.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through, until the edges of the cookies are set and the tops are evenly cracked. Transfer the baking sheet to wire racks, and let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before removing them to the racks to cool completely.

Makes about 30 cookies