Recipe Review: Chocolatier’s Mocha Dreams

Dearest Melanie was kind enough to photocopy this recipe and give me a copy. She loved it so much she just had to share it with me. I have been saving it for the right moment to test them. That moment came last week. We needed ultimate chocolate comforting.

You begin by melting 4 oz of semi sweet chocolate which I did in a makeshift double boiler. Instead of using expensive chocolate, I used semi sweet chocolate chips. Let the chocolate cool while making the batter.

You are supposed to whisk together 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp of all purpose flour, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/8 tsp of salt. I did my best to whisk but there were lumps of cocoa. I suggest sieving instead.

Beat 1 cup of unsalted softened butter until creamy. Then add 1 cup of lightly packed brown sugar. Then 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Keep creaming together until they get light and airy. This can be done by hand, it just takes some time and effort. If using a mixer, make sure to scrape the sides down regularly so everything is well incorporated.

Add two room temperature eggs, one at a time, to the batter. Beat in 1 tbsp of vanilla. Yes, 1 tablespoon!

Mix in the melted chocolate very well.

Slowly add the flour/cocoa mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go.

Fold in 3/4 cup of chocolate-covered coffee beans, 3/4 cup of semisweet chocolate chips and 2/3 cup of finely chopped walnuts. We skipped the nuts.

This is where I had to change the recipe. With a large ice cream scoop, you were supposed to scoop out the cookie dough, put onto a baking sheet and then let it chill in the fridge. I had very little room in the fridge so I just let all the batter chill for 30 minutes and then scooped out the dough. I baked them in a 350F oven for 17 minutes like the recipe suggests. Melanie had written 15 minutes on the side of the recipe and she was right. The first batch were very crispy and slightly burned on the bottom.

The next batch I brought the temperature down to 325F and baked for 17 minutes and they were better but still very crispy. Next time I baked them I let the batter come to room temperature, baked at 325F for 17 minutes and they got very wide but were softer, the way I like my cookies!

Any way you make these, they are pretty darn fantastic! They are very strong and sugary though. The espresso beans get very crunchy which I enjoyed but not everyone will like. The last batch I baked and then froze so now when we are blue, there are cookies waiting to make us feel better.

Thanks so much Melanie! You were right, these are real winners! I give these cookies four and a half out of five wooden spoons. For those who like crunchier cookies, these would be a 5/5!