Chocolate Cherry Cookies

Delicious-ness!

I've been on the hunt for espresso powder since I made a peanut butter torte but I didn't want to pay for shipping to order it online. Last week I visited the Williams Sonoma store, and lo and behold, there it was. Since I finally had some espresso powder I knew I had to make something. Off I went to my google Reader and found these cookies from 17 and Baking. I'm not a fan of chocolate cake, so I've always steered away from chocolate cookies. These cookies have completely changed my mind! I absolutely loved the addition of dried cherries.

I'm debating on making these for some holiday gatherings in Baltimore. The recipe calls for melted chocolate, which I can easily do with my chocolate melting pot, but I won't have that at my parents. Next time I make this I may try using a boxed brownie mix and somehow adapting it to make cookies. I've never done that, so I'm sure I'll be doing lots of googling.

Either way, here's the recipe for the above delicious-ness!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
5 oz bittersweet chocolate
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
8 tbsp (1 stick) butter
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp espresso powder
4 oz semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup (4.5 oz) dried cherries, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar and set aside.

Melt the bittersweet chocolate, unsweetened chocolate, and butter in a metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Stir frequently and remove from heat. Allow chocolate to cool for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium speed. Add the sugar and beat until the eggs triple in volume and hold the lines of the whisk, about ten minutes. Add the espresso powder and beat another minute.

Add the melted and cooled chocolate to the eggs on low speed. Beat until incorporated, then add the dry ingredients, chocolate chips, and dried cherries. Beat until just combined – do not overmix. Finish mixing by hand with a rubber spatula. The batter will be very runny (honestly, it wasn't too runny for me). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. For large cookies, use two tablespoons to scoop the batter into large mounds. Place 2″ apart on sheet and bake 12-15 minutes. For small cookies, scoop the batter with two teaspoons and bake 8-10 minutes. The cookies puff in the oven and fall a bit once removed. Let cool on the sheets. (I cooled mine on racks).