A Recipe for Gooey Chocolate Cookies from Alice Medrich's Latest Book
In her latest, award-winning cookbook, Chewy, Gooey, Crispy, Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies, Alice Medrich introduces readers to new cookies and refines recipes for classic cookies, delivering excellent results. She shares helpful techniques, like using a wide skillet with a bowl set inside as a double boiler, and gives readers make-ahead tips and shortcuts when possible. 
Bittersweet Decadence Cookies (Image courtesy of http://lettuceeatkale.com).
Most of the recipe headnotes in Cookies include tips you should know before baking, so don't forget to read them. In this recipe for Bittersweet Decadence Cookies, Medrich advises that this cookie batter gets very stiff almost as soon as you mix it, and that your cookies will look best if you scoop them ASAP, while the batter is still soft.
Bittersweet Decadence Cookies
Makes 30-36 cookies
¼ cup (1.125 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate with up to 60% cacao or 7 ounces chocolate with 61% to 64% cacao, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large eggs
½ cup (3.5 ounces) sugar (plus 1 tablespoon (0.375 ounce) if using chocolate with 61% to 64% cacao)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate with any percentage cacao you like, chopped into generous-size chunks, or purchased chocolate chunks
2 cups (7 ounces) walnut or pecan halves or large pieces
Equipment
Cookie sheets, lined with parchment
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and mix together thoroughly with a whisk.
Place the 8 ounces of chocolate and the butter in a large heatproof bowl set directly in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir frequently just until melted and smooth. Remove the chocolate from the skillet and set aside. Leave the heat on under the skillet.
In another large heatproof bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together thoroughly. Set the bowl in the skillet and stir until the mixture is lukewarm to the touch. Stir the egg mixture into the warm (not hot) chocolate. Stir in the flour mixture, then the chocolate chunks and nuts.
Scoop slightly rounded tablespoons of batter and place 1 ½ inches apart onto the lined cookie sheets. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the surface of the cookie looks dry and set and the centers are still gooey. Rotate the sheets from top to bottom and from front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. Set the pans or just the liners on racks to cool. Let the cookies cool completely before storing or stacking. May be kept in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Note: To Make Dough Ahead Refrigerate or freeze scoops of batter until hard. Place them in an airtight bag and refrigerate for up to 3 days, or place in a second freezer bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, thaw frozen scoops in the refrigerator. Place scoops on lined pans, bring to room temperature, and bake as directed.
(From Chewy, Gooey, Crispy, Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies, Copyright © 2010 by Alice Medrich. Published by Artisan.)
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