The Mistake That Went Right

It turns out this week of cookies has been prolonged to a week and a half. Oh gosh. I have to apologize and I hope I can make it up to you... With lovely cookies! Hooray!

These cookies are supposed to be those "soft and chewy" chocolate crackles compliments of Martha's cookie book... But that depended on baking powder and I had only baking soda. I figured it wouldn't make much of a difference untill the cookies started spreading out like crazy and i was left with a panful of flat chocolate and powdered sugar. In Victoria's Secret terms, think more of a sports bra compared with the B-cup these cookies are supposed to be. The issue at hand was that this travesty happened at 2am and I had to mail the Bf his valentine's day package the next day so I went with it regardless - heart shaped cookie cutters to the rescue! In any case, I ended up with a cookie thats more of a combination of crisp, chewy, and full of chocolatey goodness. And decidedly "Brietarded" in their character. Hope you'll find them as tasty as the Bf did...

(Flatty) Chocolate Crackles

adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies

Yield: about 5 dozen

Ingredients

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli 70% bittersweet chocolate chips, unchopped. I'm lazy like that)

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-process if you're a Martha purist...)

2 tsp. baking soda (use baking powder if you want your cookies to be B-cup, use the baking soda if you'd like to try my trainer version)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 c. packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/3 c. whole milk

1 c. granulated sugar

1 c. confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring (I used a microwave, not going to lie...). Set aside and let cool. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

2. With an electric mixer (or by hand if you want to be unfortunate like me), beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 - 3 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla, and then the melted chocolate. Reduce speed to low; mix in flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the milk. Divide dough into four equal pieces. Wrap each in plastic; refridgerate until firm, about 2 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Divide each piece into sixteen 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar to coat, then in confectioners' sugar to coat. Space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

4. For my flatty cookies, bake 10 minutes rotating halfway through until cookies look pretty solid. Take the sheet out of the oven, count to ten, then take a cookie cutter (if you want them to look pretty at all) and cut out your lovely shapes. Transfer to wire racks, dip in some more powdered sugar when cooled for looks, then feed the scraps of leftover cookies to your hungry pre-med friends. Or anybody. The scraps are tasty too, trust me.

5. For Martha's real version, bake until surfaces crack, about 14 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

6. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature. Martha says for up to three days, but they're good way past that. Can cookies even go bad?