‘Midnight’ Crackles

Get it?  Midnight?  Great recipe for New Years, don’t you think?

This picture actually doesn’t quite capture the correct color.  They are super dark.  Like…midnight dark:)

Actually, these cookies are fantastic just about anytime of the year, even though I usually make them around the holidays.  They are a wonderful contribution to the cookie plate but honestly.  Can you see many people looking at this treat in July and saying ‘No!’ to a dense, bittersweet chocolate cookie?  I didn’t think so.  The wonderful thing about these cookies is that the flavor is just a tiny bit different than a straightforward chocolate cookie.  What does this mean?  It means you end up really really liking them.  Like…a lot.  I have been making them for years and am always a little surprised when I eat my first one of the batch.  “Oh yeah,” I say to myself, “THIS is why I always liked these!”  If you follow my blog regularly, you may recognize this conversation.  I have it with my self all the time and in turn, end up babbling about it here to you.  No matter how many times I make a dish, I can still be wonderfully shocked at how fantastic it is.  I like to think this is one of the things that my husband finds attractive about me.  I pray he still finds it endearing that I can make a shrimp pasta that I make ALL THE TIME or a coffee cake I whipped up twice in one week and still roll my eyes to the heavens, savoring the flavor and hopping up and down in what he calls my ‘happy food dance’.  All because food never ceases to amaze me.  And on that note, I hope food continues to knock my socks of for the rest of my days.  I once saw an extremely elderly couple at a pizza place and they looked so…um advanced in years that I would have had my doubts of their making it through the meal had I been their server.  When I glanced at the table they each had one of the most enormous pilsners of beer I have ever seen and were sharing a huge pizza that from what I could tell, was covered with nothing but cheese and enough jalapenos to kill a cat.  This was years ago and I still think about that couple.  And I sincerely hope that is Mike and I someday.

Only I will probably be drinking milk, not beer, but that kind of shatters the image doesn’t it?

So back to the cookies!  Like most cookie recipes, this one is easy and straightforward.  It will satisfy the most intense chocolate craving so keep them in mind for the pregnant lady in your life.  Just sayin.One Year Ago: Sweet Cream Biscuits & Cranberry Orange Scones

Midnight Crackles
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan
The ingredients in this recipe have not changed from the original, but after years of fussing with the baking technique, I realize that I have come to disagree with the wonderful Dorie Greenspan.  Please don’t tell her.  Also, don’t disregard what seems like unimportantly small measures of spice in this recipe.  It makes a difference.

In a medium size sauce pan, melt together over very low heat:
10 T unsalted butter
1 1/4 c brown sugar
10 oz bittersweet chocolate chips, preferably Ghirardelli, or an equal amount of good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Stir the mixture occasionally until the chocolate is just barely melted and smooth.  Pour into a mixing bowl and let cool slightly.  Add 2 eggs and mix well.  Sift together and add:
2 1/2 c flour
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves

Mix all ingredients until just combined.  The dough will come together in a ball and look kind of shiny.  Scoop out a chunk of dough about the size of a prune and roll into a smooth ball.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and flatten slightly with you fingers, keeping the cookies a good 2 inches apart from each other.  Bake at 350 for 10-11 minutes or until cracked and dry on top.  DO NOT OVER BAKE!  Let cool for  a few minutes on the pan to set up and then remove to a cooling rack.  Store tightly sealed for up to 5 days or freeze for a month.