The dough is easy but the waiting is hard

Yes this dough, which is more like a thick creamy batter, really requires a thorough chilling that is best accomplished overnight. It needs to be firm enough to roll into balls and cold going into the oven in order to puff and crack as intended. Don’t overcook these treasures – they should be tender and fudgy.

METHOD:

MELT the butter and chocolate in a medium heavy saucepan over very low heat. Stir constantly until almost fully melted. Remove the pan from the heat and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.

WHISK together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

USING an electric mixer, beat the eggs in a large bowl until frothy, about 45 seconds. Add the granulated and brown sugars and beat until thick and smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in the melted chocolate mixture and the vanilla. With the beaters on low speed, mix in the flour mixture just until completely blended. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is firm, about 4 hours but preferably overnight.

PREHEAT the oven to 350° F.   Line 1 or 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

PLACE the confectioner’s sugar in a medium bowl. Set a sheet of wax paper on the work surface in front of you. Using a small spoon, scoop chunks of dough and roll them between your hands into  1 inch balls. Place the balls on the wax paper, forming enough for one cookie sheet.

{ There is no getting around messy sticky hands, just wash them after each batch }

Drop about 5 balls at a time into the confectioner’s sugar and shake the bowl to fully coat them. Arrange them about 2 inches apart on a prepared cookie sheet with parchment paper.

BAKE for 11 to 12 minutes or until cookies are puffed and crackled on top. The tops should be soft, even a little wet looking, but the edges should feel mostly firm. If using 2 cookie sheets, rotate them from top to bottom and from front to back halfway through baking. Slide the parchment off the cookie sheet onto a wire rack. After a few minutes, remove the cookies from the paper using a spatuala and place them onto racks to cool.

STORE Layered between sheets of wax paper, in an air-tight container for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 4 months

8 tablespoons ( 1 stick ) unsalted butter

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup lightly packed dark-brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup confectioner’s sugar, for coating the dough

11 – 12 minutes
55

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