“The all-chocolate cookie I wanted for you and me (thus us) was an elegant, crisp edged, politely pudgy cocoa beauty,” says Natalie Paull. “I wanted all the types of chocolate involved to use up whatever chocolate remnants were left in the cupboard. I wanted irregular, dough-enriching pieces (not the disinterested collaborators that chocolate buttons or chips are). Extra nice cocoa also makes a better bake. Inspiration for these comes from the Pierre Hermé et Dorie Greenspan world-peace cookie – one of the top three cookies in the known universe.”
Ingredients
- 40 g (1½ oz) egg yolks, from approximately 2 eggs
- 120 g (4¼ oz) light brown sugar
- 60 g (2¼ oz) caster (superfine) sugar
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) vanilla bean paste
- 180 g (6½ oz) unsalted butter, cool and pliable (15°C/59°F)
- 210 g (7½ oz) plain (allpurpose) flour (10% protein)
- 30 g (1 oz) good Dutch cocoa powder
- Slightly heaped ½ teaspoon (4 g) bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) fine sea salt
- 210 g (7½ oz) chocolate – I like to use a mix of 90 g (3¼ oz) dark chocolate (70% cocoa), 60 g (2¼ oz) milk chocolate and 60 g (2¼ oz) white chocolate
- Cooking oil spray
Method
- Beat the egg yolks, sugars and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, on just above medium speed until the mix becomes slightly paler and paste-like. (Alternatively you can do this in a wide bowl using hand-beaters, or the power of your arm and a hand-whisk.) The mix will look dry to start but keep on beating! Add the butter in chunks, beating on medium speed, until they merge with the egg mix and become a dense, creamed paste (not a super pale fluffy mix). Stop and scrape the side of the bowl once.
- Prep the remaining ingredients. Sift the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt together into a small bowl. Chop the chocolates – you want a nice blend of fine shards and larger chunks the size of small chickpeas. Set aside.
- Finish the dough. Tip all the drys and the chocolate in and mix on low speed, or by hand with a stiff plastic spatula, to ensure there are no butter streaks in the dough. The dough will be sticky and moist but will firm as it rests.
- Scoop the dough. Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and mould into a loggish shape. Wrap the plastic around loosely, then roll on the work surface to form an even and smooth log, around 20 cm (8 inches) long and 6 cm (2½ inches) in diameter. Tap the log ends to make them flat. Wrap and chill for at least 4 hours before slicing. (See Top Trix 1 below.)
- Bake. Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Line two shallow baking trays with baking paper ‘glued down’ with cooking oil spray.
- Using a sharp serrated knife, trim the ends (bake these for snacks) off the cylinder, then slowly saw 1.5 cm (⅝ inch) slices. (If any bits of dough break away, smoosh them back onto the main cookie.) Arrange them across the baking trays, spacing approx. 5 cm (2 inches) apart to allow for spreading – they can get to 9 cm (3½ inches) in diameter. Bake for 12–15 minutes – they will be matt chocolate brown and feel very soft to touch.
- Grab an 11 cm (4¼ inch) cookie cutter and place it over a cookie on the tray. Give the cutter a gentle swirl – this heightens the cookie sides and is completely aesthetic, not essential. The cookies will remain soft until 100% cooled and ready to eat. Try to resist.
Top Trix:
1. To lessen the flat edge that soft dough cylinders get, use the cardboard inner from a roll of paper towel. Snip the length of the roll, prise it open and place the plastic-wrapped cylinder of dough inside. The dough will chill with a curved (not flattened) base. Or nestle the wrapped logs on a tray of 1cm (½ inch) deep flour to chill.
Adaptrix:
Nuts! Replace 90 g (3¼ oz) of the chocolate with 90 g (3¼ oz) low-and-slow deeply toasted nuts, roughly chopped – walnuts or pecans are my first choices. Try to chop the nuts one by one to reduce the nut meal created by collective chopping. The meal can absorb some moisture in the dough and make them spread less.
Images and text from Sweet Heart by Natalie Paull, photography by Rochelle Eagle. Murdoch Books RRP $49.99. Sweet Heart is out now and available at excellent independent Victorian bookstores such as Readings, Books for Cooks and Hill of Content.