Chocoholic's Dream Cookie

While I would definitely describe myself as an avid cook, I admittedly do not bake much. This is probably not the worst thing in the world considering neither Jordan nor I are able to exert any measure of self-control when faced with sweets. (I’m pretty sure he admitted to eating 10 cookies last night.)

Anyhow, this past Christmas Eve I had to work at my old job mixing paint, so I decided to bring in a homemade treat, to make being stuck at work suck a little less for everyone.

When cooking with my usual ingredients of meats, vegetables, pastas, and cheeses I don’t follow recipes, I just follow my gut. However, baking is another beast entirely, and therefore I tend to follow other’s recipes for most goodies.

Allrecipes.com has yet to give me a true failure of a recipe, so while searching through their desserts; I came across the dream cookie of any chocoholic. The recipe is called Chocolate Pile-Up Cookies by user bansidhewail, and can be found at the following web address:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-pile-up-cookies/detail.aspx

To make these dreamy chocolate cookies you will need:

·         2 cups all-purpose flour

·         ¾ unsweetened cocoa powder

·         1 teaspoon baking soda

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (Tillamook all the way!)

·         ¾ white sugar

·         ¾ cup brown sugar

·         2 eggs

·         2 teaspoons vanilla extract

·         2 tablespoons coffee-flavored liqueur (Kahlua:)

·         1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

·         1 cup milk chocolate chips

·         1 cup white chocolate chips

·         1 cup finely chopped toasted hazelnuts (I left those out this time)

Here are the directions (almost) how they appear on allrecipes.com:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375°. Line baking sheet with parchment paper (THE best way to bake cookies!).

Step 2: In a bowl mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

Step 3: In another bowl, beat together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until creamy. An electric mixer would definitely come in handy here, but my boyfriend also does an awesome job. (Hey, he’s got to work off all those sweets somehow! ;) Then beat in the eggs, vanilla extract, and coffee liqueur.

Step 4: Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture. Stir until well combined. Then stir in all of the chocolate chips and chopped hazelnuts.

Step 5: Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.



LAZY LAURA’S ALTERNATE STEP 5: Cookie dough almost always freezes well. This cookie recipe makes 5 dozen cookies, so I suggest forming half of it into rolls (like how you buy refrigerated cookie dough in the grocery store) and freezing them. I take a big blob of cookie dough (enough for about a dozen cookies), mold it into a small log, wrap it in parchment paper, then freeze in a gallon sized freezer bag. On a lazy afternoon or evening you can pull a roll out of the freezer, let it thaw slightly, slice, and bake following the recipe.

** Note: The following pictures look a little nasty. It would probably look a lot nicer with sugar cookie dough. Hehehe ;)

Then roll it up!

ALWAYS label and date your bags! :)