World Peace Cookies

*tap tap* Is this thing on? I'm baaack. Heh. After four months of not posting, I'm back with cookies. Not just any cookie, it's Dorie Greenspan's World Peace Cookies!

Since I've been missing for a such a long time, I feel like I should tell you what I've been up to:

-I made a promise to myself to make cakes for all my friends' birthdays since cakes are pretty much a requirement in any birthday. Bonus points if it's homemade. So far, three of them celebrated their birthdays and two of them have already appeared on this blog and the other one, I forgot to take pictures. I'll recreate it sometime and I'll post it here.

-I'm a senior now. Woot! Just one more year of exams and studying hard then I'll be taking the CPA board exams. Well, I'll be reviewing for six months first. But after that, board exams! :o

-Does anyone know how I could learn French? Other than go take a class. I don't think there's one near my area. Maybe books or websites? Thanks.

-I don't know what to say anymore. For four months, I didn't post anything and that's the only thing new that's happened. My life is riveting.

Anyway back to the cookies. I know this has been on the internets plenty of times and you probably don't need convincing to make these cookies or probably you have made them too. But I am in love with them. Deeply chocolate-y but I don't get sick even if I eat the whole batch. Not that that's ever happened before. Not me. I have amaaazing self-control.

World Peace Cookies

From Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

Yield: About 36 cookies (I get 24 exactly, every time)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

Turn off the mixer. Pour in the flour, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

GETTING READY TO BAKE:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.

SERVING:

The cookies can be eaten when they are warm or at room temperature — I prefer them at room temperature, when the textural difference between the crumbly cookie and the chocolate bits is greatest — and are best suited to cold milk or hot coffee.

STORING:

Packed airtight, cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days; they can be frozen for up to 2 months.