World Peace Cookies

Confession: These cookies did not bring me peace.  In fact, they made me want to punch walls.  I don't know what I did, but I couldn't get this recipe to turn out right.  The dough was so crumbly, which I expected from a sable cookie, but this was pretty bad.  So of course when I cut them they just fell apart.  Which of course made them hideous (you know how I love pretty cookies--I hand selected the ones for the picture above.  Most were a crumbly mess.)  And to top it all off, as much as I love chocolate, these cookies were a fail in the taste department too.  The richness of the dark chocolate was completely voided by the dry texture from the cookie, even though they weren't overbaked.  I don't understand. This was just one of those kitchen debacles that has no reason other than it happened on a day that ended in "y."

Since this recipe is ubiquitous on the web, I'm not going to share were I got my version from.  I will tell you that I googled "world peace cookies" and this recipe matched at least 6 others on the web.  I just don't feel right crediting someone for my inability to get the same results even though I followed their directions exactly.  However, I do think I can salvage these into something else.  While I work on that, leave me a comment if you can tell what I did wrong or to share your experience with these cookies!



Disclaimer: I made and wrote this post a while ago. When I took these out to incorporate them into something else, they actually tasted much better.  They were slightly soft and the dark chocolate was more mellow because of the softness.  But I still think they didn't turn out quite right for me (and are much better reincarnated into something new).  Stay tuned for the new version on Friday!

World Peace Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
11 Tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de del or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, shopped

Sift together flour, cocoa and baking soda.  Set aside.

You'll notice in my picture I have coarse sea salt shown.  But I also have a mortar and pestle so I (and by I, I mean Dave) ground some of the coarse salt to fine.

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed until soft and creamy.  Add both sugars, salt and vanilla and beat for 2 minutes more.

Turn off the mixer and add all of the dry ingredients at once.  If you have a pouring shield for your mixer, put it on.  Otherwise drape a dish towel or two over the mixer so flour doesn't fly everywhere when you turn it back on.

Pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times.  Check to see how much flour is still on the surface--if it's a lot, pulse a few more times.  Continue mixing at low speed for about 30 seconds until the flour is incorporated.  The dough should still be crumbly.

Add the chopped chocolate and mix only to combine.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and gather it together.  Divide in half and shape into logs with a 1 1/2 inch diameter.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 3 hours to 3 days (I chilled mine for about 5 hours).  You can also freeze for up to 3 months.  (If frozen, add one minute to bake time).

Using a sharp knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick.  Supposedly they are likely to crack (that's what all the recipes say and that's what happened to mine), but you can just piece it back together. 

Arrange on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet about one inch apart.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 12 minutes. They will look underdone and will not be firm.  Cool on sheet until warm and serve warm or move to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Happy Baking (and hope yours turn out better!),
The Cookie Princess

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