Thick & Chewy Suicide Chocolate Cookies

You have been begging me for this recipe for years (you know who you are, *coughLINDSAYcough*).  This recipe has long been one of my favorites and was a great favorite amongst both the men and women of the Ministry House both years I lived there.  I sometimes call these whompers suicide cookies, because you eat one and you're in heaven.  The end.

I made them last week; we polished them off this morning.  I will make more later this week to send in care packages & the like, so I will  post pictures of them then.

THICK AND CHEWY SUICIDE CHOCOLATE COOKIES


(adapted with much love from Baking Illustrated)

MAKES 35. MAYBE. THEY'RE EPIC.


Notes:

• I recommend using parchment paper for this recipe, or at least covering the pan with foil. The undersides of these cookies are so soft that, if you need to use the same pan multiple times or you need to transfer the cookies quickly for some other reason, they will fall apart.

• Large spring-loaded ice-cream scoops were designed for these cookies. 

• Resist the urge to bake the cookies longer than indicated; they may appear under baked at first, but they will firm up as they cool—and the centers should be soft in any case.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups (10 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour

½ cup (1 ½ oz) cocoa powder (Dutch-processed if you can find it)

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

16 ounces semisweet chocolate pieces

4 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp instant coffee or espresso powder (optional)

10 Tbsp (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool

1 ½ cups packed (10 ½ oz) light brown sugar

½ cup (3 ½ oz) granulated sugar

1 bag Andes Mints, Reeses Miniature Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey Kisses, or other meltable candies.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix (or sift) the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

2. Melt the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl—either over a pan of almost-simmering water (stirring once or twice until smooth) or in the microwave—and remove from heat. In a small bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla with a fork (OPTIONAL: sprinkle the coffee powder over to dissolve) and set aside.

3. Beat the butter at medium speed (or by hand, if you’re brave) until smooth and creamy, about 5 seconds on the mixer. Beat in the sugars until combined, about 45 seconds. The mixture will look granular. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the egg mixture, about 45 seconds. Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined, about 40 seconds. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a spatula. With the mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overbeat.

4. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the consistency is scoopable and fudge-like, about 30 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop the dough with a 1 ¾-inch ice cream scoop, spacing the scoops about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.

6. Unwrap your Andes Mints or candy of choice and place one piece in the center of each dough scoop. Press firmly, until the dough rises above the candy on all sides. Gently shape the dough over the candy until completely covered—this is important to keep the candy from burning.

7. Bake until the edges of the cookies have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes—and rotate the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets about 10 minutes, slide the parchment with cookies onto wire racks, and cool to room temperature. Use new parchment paper for the second round of cookies. Remove cooled cookies from the parchment with a wide metal spatula.

8. Devour.  Gracefully.