World Peace Cookies

I'm about to give you a cookie recipe for arguably, the best cookies in the world. They are so good that every person I have watched ingest one was moved by the experience. I have spent my lifetime criticizing the addition of chocolate chips to already chocolate things. Chocolate ice cream is not improved by chocolate chips, brownies are certainly hindered by them, and chocolate cookies with chocolate chips are just, in my opinion, way over kill. So it's good to start out by saying that these cookies proved me wrong. 

These are shortbread cookies - meaning they contain no egg-  just butter, sugar, and flour, because of this they have a very tender consistency.  The texture is simply addictive, what I'd call a good mouthfeel. They are not too sweet nor too rich - I can say this because I have eaten nearly a whole batch on my own- this is not recommended based on a 2,000 calorie diet or based on the way I felt after eating them all (a jittery wreck), but it was a very tasty venture, I have no regrets. 

These are so good that I would recommend making two batches at a time and saving one batch as logs in the freezer to cook when you experience a desperate craving, which you will soon after eating the first batch. Speaking from experience, however, this recipe does not double well. I often find I can't double a pie dough recipe successfully because the dough won't come together correctly at the end. The same applies here. If you're going to make two batches, you don't have to clean your mixing bowl before starting the second batch, but I would recommend making them one at a time. 

World Peace Cookies

From The Splendid Table, based on the original recipe by Pierre Hermé

Makes about 30 cookies 

Total time: 1 hour minimum, active time: 15 min

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups/160 grams all purpose flour

1/3 cup/35 grams cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 - 1 tsp fluer de sel (or other pretentious flaky sea salt)

1 stick plus 3 Tbps (11 tbps)/145 grams softened butter

2/3 cup/135 grams packed brown sugar

1/4 cup/55 grams granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

5 oz/140 grams dark chocolate (at least 60%, 70 is better), finely chopped

Method:

Making the dough

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. If your cocoa powder is very clumpy, put the mixture through a sieve or sifter instead.  

In the bowl of a standing mixer, or in a bowl using a hand mixer, beat butter and both sugars on high until creamy.

Add the dry ingredients and beat on low until the mixture is no longer powdery or dry and a dough conistency begins to form. Try not to over-mix it!

Add the chocolate and beat on low very briefly until the chocolate is evenly distributed.

Turn the mixture out onto a clean work surface (i.e. a silicone mat, marble slab, or clean countertop) and divide the mixture in half. Work the mixture into two logs about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for 20-30 minutes or in the fridge 1-3 hours or overnight. 

Baking the cookies

Preheat the oven to 325°F/ 160°C/140° with fan

Slice the logs into 1/2 inch thick rounds with a sharp knife (some of them will fall apart, just smoosh them back together). Place rounds on a lined cookie sheet and sprinkle each one with just a few grains of fluer de sel.

Bake for 12 minutes. It will be hard to tell if they are done- just trust in the recipe.

Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.