Thursday, September 19, 2013

Double Chocolate Sin. For everyone.

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Double Chocolate Sin.  For everyone.
This cookie was developed by a high school student at Ventura HS a few years back. I revisit the cookie once a year, not that it needs improvement, and this year, it was prompted by a very efficient class. 

Our Baking with Olive Oil class was so speedy last week that we quickly had to rally to add a few more recipes to the course.  Enter these sinful, melt-in-your-mouth-yet-won't-fall-apart cookies (We didn't have any blood orange olive oil, so we zested a half an orange into the olive oil).  They are so easy to make and the dough freezes really well.  As with all our cookies, we recommend scooping the dough into little 'pucks' and freezing them, then allowing the pucks to sit on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes before baking.

I was on my third (ahem, fifth), cookie when it donned on us that this cookies' texture would marry perfectly with grain-free flours.  Hadley'sGluten Free recipes are moving more into the grain-free sphere and are getting harder and harder to differentiate between conventional and GF.  These flours (almond, coconut, etc) in various ratios and combinations offer a shockingly similar texture to wheat flour without processed gums or additives.  To make these cookies grain and gluten free, simply replace the 2 cups of all purpose flour with 1 cup of almond flour and 1/4 cup coconut flour.  Let the dough rest for 15 minutes to allow the coconut flour to absorb some of the liquid and firm up before scooping and baking.

Double Chocolate-Blood Orange Cookies
Place in the bowl of a stand mixer:
1 stick butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar

Set aside:
1/3 cup blood orange olive oil
2 eggs
2 tsps vanilla

Whisk together:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Set aside:
1 cup chocolate pieces/chunks/doesn't matter so long as it's good chocolate *

1) Cream butter and sugar with a hand held mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy; this usually takes 3-4 minutes.
2) Add olive oil, eggs and vanilla and beat for another minute, or until well combined.
3) In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  Toss in the chocolate pieces.
4) Add this flour mixture to the batter and stir until just combined (and I mean it, JUST combined, or I will make my way to your kitchen and scold you for trying to turn these into chocolate hockey pucks).
5) Drop by scoop or spoonful onto parchment-paper lined cookie sheets and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, or just until the start to set on the very edges of the cookie.  They will continue baking after you remove them from the oven.

* Try buying chocolate bars instead of chips.  Chips tend to be stabilized so they keep their perfect 'kiss' shape and don't taste quite as good.  I like buying bars or discs of great chocolate (Valrhona, Cordillera, etc) and chopping them into shards.

Have a delicious day!
Clémence and Hadley 

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