d-d-d-decadence

there was a bbq potluck at a friend's this week. i didn't want to go grocery shopping, and i wanted to avoid using his kitchen/grill since they will probably be busy enough, so i offered to make dessert. i remembered to take pictures!

because i have a 2kg bag of chocolate chips i don't know how to use, melting some (a lot) down to make cookies seemed to make sense at the time. so that's what i did. to make chocolate toffee cookies (*see below), melt 1 pound or 453.5g or 16oz (did you know google converts measurements for you?) of chocolate with butter. the recipe recommended using a double boiler, but i used the microwave because it pains me to think about washing a pot that's only boiled water; i am lazy.

while the melted chocolate cools to luke warmish (maybe there's no point in keeping it warm and natural physics dictates that heat travels from high capacity to low anyways, but if you say it the first way it sounds like you're in charge of your cookie components), chop your insanely sugary candy bar of choice. i wanted to stick with the toffee thing so i used skor bars. if someone made this with snickers, i would eat it in a heartbeat, though that would probably be my last one.

unless you're a robot with a motor arm, an electric mixer is recommended when combining the eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla. i used the wire whisk cause it looked a lot easier to wash.. ha. but i don't think the mixture got as pale and as thick as the recipe meant for, and:


that may or may not be the reason why the batter (egg mixture + chocolate + flour mixture + skor + walnuts) was on the runny side, while it is apparently possible for you to roll the dough into logs before chilling (so you can slice and bake, instead of scoop and bake).

i put the whole bowl in the fridge for about an hour, and the whole time i could only scoop. make sure you use something nonstick (spray/parchment) when baking! unless you like half-stuck cookies. later the bowl migrated to the freezer between scoops. the dough was easier to maneuver when cold. also, instead of baking them at 350 for 12 minutes, i did 325 for 13. for me and the frozen chocolate mess, the latter seemed to bake more evenly.


results! sometimes i break off (eat) the toffee parts that ooze out of the cookie.

here's a macro shot of a half one, while the other half was in my mouth. can you feel my teeth ache? at potluck, people topped it with maple nut ice cream and they said it was good.

it was fun melting a pound of chocolate and using almost 2 cups of brown sugar when the recipes i normally go for don't require half that. i felt like a fat/phat food network superstar. a cookie with almost 50% chocolate can't be half bad (the math, do you see), and it wasn't, but i don't know if i'd make this again without having at least 40 people to help me destroy the evidence... and if/when i do, i would go for better quality chocolate, instead of chipits.

* chocolate toffee cookies -- recipe courtesy of Smitten Kitchen. if we didn't claim we are food wannabes ahead of time, i wouldn't have bothered -- that there is a real food blog :P