Mocha Chocolate Cookies

I bought the Gourmet cookie book soley for the bourbon balls recipe, but I ended up bookmarking almost every page in the book. The first recipe I tried ended up being a massive failure, and it was all scraped into the trash. It made me very sad, so I was determined to immediately make another recipe.

Because I had all of the ingredients on hand, I decided to make these mocha chocolate cookies, and while they were technically a success, these cookies did not appeal to everyone. All of the people at my work loved them, but it was 2 a.m. and everything tastes pretty good at 2 a.m. Some of the people at Nick's work, however, found them to be too rich.

And they are rich. They're intense. Basically, if you took fudgy, fudgy brownies and turned them into cookies, you would get these guys; they even have the crinkly tops that make me so happy. So if you're a chocolate lover or know someone who is, I would recommend whipping up a batch of these cookies in time for the holidays.

Mocha Chocolate Cookies

(From The Gourmet Cookie Book)

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into bits
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

In a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the unsweetened chocolate, 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate chips, and the butter, stirring until the mixture is smooth, and remove the bowl from the heat.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, the baking powder, and the salt. In a bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar until the mixture is thick and pale, and beat in the espresso powder and the vanilla.

Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, fold in the flour mixture, and stir in the remaining chocolate chips. Let the batter stand for 15 minutes. I found that chilled batter worked better, so you might want to let it rest in the fridge.

Drop the batter by heaping teaspoons onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake the cookies in the middle of a preheated 350 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are puffed and shiny and cracked on top. Err on the side of undercooking these cookies--they are meant to be soft and rich. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets, transfer them to racks, and let them cool completely.