Dutch Cocoa Cookies

I have a colleague who is a wonderful baker. A while back, she went on a cookie baking spree, delighting everyone and bringing in new cookies to the office on a weekly basis. It got to the point where you practically had to elbow your way into the crowd in the kitchen in the morning to grab yourself a cookie first thing, or you got nothing. And these were not cookies to be missed. She made carrot cake cookies (ok, I hate carrot cake, but everyone else loved them) and shortbread cookies and fancy lacy cookies and savory cookies and really, just about every kind of cookie you might want. So the first time I had a Dutch Cocoa cookie, I picked it up at 10 am, and did not get around to eating it until late afternoon. Well, as soon as I tasted it, I had to email her and ask for the recipe. I believe I used the words “Where has this cookie been all my life?” and “I can’t believe I waited so long to eat this cookie!”

She obligingly sent me the recipe, and everyone I’ve ever made them for has been as enthusiastic about them as I was. So my Christmas gift to you is to pass along the recipe.

2 cups of all purpose flour
¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

2 ½ sticks of butter, unsalted and at room temperature (you can get away with salted butter here)
2 cups of sugar, plus a little for “dusting”
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

Sift/mix together the first four ingredients together, then set aside.

In second bowl, combine the butter and sugar until well mixed
Add the vanilla to the butter and sugar, and then the eggs, one at a time.

Add flour mixture a little at a time until completely incorporated.

Wrap the dough in plastic and chill until firm, usually about one hour.

Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar to completely coat.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes until set in the middle.

This is very dense dough, and you’ll be tempted to flatten them out a little bit on the cookie sheet before they bake. Do that, and you’ll get a delicious, chocolatey, crispy cookie. Resist the urge to smush them, and you’ll get pretty close to attaining pure cookie bliss – a luscious chocolate cookie with crispy edges and a soft chewy middle.

I love them both ways, and usually end up cooking about half of the batch flat and half unflattened. I just made a batch tonight, and I’ve already had three! One of them fell apart between the cookie sheet and the cooling rack, so I was obligated to eat that one, (in accordance with universal baking rules) but the other two were just because I find these cookies irresistible.

Hope you love them as much as I do. Merry Christmas, everyone!