Chunky Monkey Cookies

     

       I like putting pretzels, peanuts, and pine nuts in my nutella or PB&J sandwiches.  It's because when you bite through the soft bread and feel the crunch of the pretzel or nuts, it's like you're snapping the bones of a small creature.  Totally not weird or anything.

       These cookies have a lot of the same textures I like in my sandwiches.  There are the white chocolate chips and the salty peanuts for crunch and some smooth pockets of melted semi-sweet chocolate when you eat the cookies warm.  And the cookie is very soft and chocolatey. It's just like eating a monkey (a species that is made of chocolate and deliciousness).

        The cookies don't spread much, so if you make rounded scoops, the cookies will stay round.  If you want flatter cookies, just press down on the cookies so that they have the shape you want.  Spherical cookies are pretty cute, too, you know.  

         I really like the flavors in this cookie.  There is a lot of chocolate, which is always good.  There are bittersweet chocolate, unsweetened cocoa powder, unsweetened chocolate, white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips and chopped semisweet-chocolate.  White chocolate isn't technically chocolate, but it goes super well with the rich chocolate cookie and balances with the slight bitterness of other chocolates. Also, the salty chopped peanuts check the sweetness of the cookie.

First, melt together chocolate and butter and set it aside to cool.

Whisk together the dry ingredients like my brother is doing here.

Beat together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until foamy.

Stir in the chocolate and dry ingredients until incorporated. 

Now, to have a proper chunky cookie, I suggest buying a bar of chocolate and chopping it yourself.  It's good if the pieces are uneven sizes. 

Stir in the chocolate chips/chunks and nuts.

Scoop the dough onto a baking sheet.

Bake until the tops are dry but the cookies are still moist.

Enjoy!

Chunky Monkey Cookies

adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

makes about 24 cookies

Ingredients

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into several pieces

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 ounce unsweetened chocolate coarsely chopped

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

6 ounces milk or white chocolate chips or chunks

1 1/2 cups salted peanuts, chopped

Directions

1. Place an oven rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
3. Melt the butter, bittersweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate together in a bowl over a pot of simmering water, or in the microwave, stirring constantly until smooth.  Set aside to cool.
4. In a large bowl beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium high speed until the mixture is pale and foamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the melted chocolate mixture and beat on low speed just until combined.
5. Add the flour mixture, mixing just until there aren't any streaks of flour.  Stir in the chocolate chips/chunks and nuts.
6. Drop the dough by generously heaping tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes. The tops should look dry but the interiors should still be soft.
7. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.