Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Cocoa-chocolate chip pillows

Cocoa-chocolate chip pillows

Last night was a nightmare – there was a huge storm here in Sao Paulo and several places in the city were flooded. I left work at 6pm and got home at 11... It usually takes me 1 hour to do the same thing everyday. I was so tired that after a shower I fell asleep in less than 5 minutes.

Being inside of a practically parked car for 5 hours is no fun, let me tell you, but at least I had some music to keep me company. I definitely wanted something cheerful – I love Smiths and Silverchair, but that is not the kind of music one needs in times of desperation; those are times for the Australian pint-sized diva.

Besides good music, there’s something else I crave in moments of tension: sweets. Can’t tell you how many times these cookies crossed my mind last night. :D

Cocoa-chocolate chip pillows

Cocoa-chocolate chip pillows
slightly adapted from Baking by Flavor

Cookie dough:
2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (30g) unsweetened Dutch processed (alkalized) cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ cup (70g) unsifted confectioners’ sugar
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon ground almonds
2/3 cup (115g) semisweet chocolate chips

Cocoa rolling mixture*:
1 ¾ cups (245g) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon unsweetened Dutch processed (alkalized) cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 175ºC/350ºF; line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. (Cookie sheets need to be heavy to prevent bottoms of cookies from scorching. Use one sheet on top of another, if necessary.)

Make the dough: sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Place melted butter in a large mixing bowl. Sift over the confectioners’’ sugar and mix it in with a wooden spoon; the mixture will have small lumps of sugar. Blend in vanilla extract and almonds. Stir in half of sifted flour mixture and all the chocolate chips. Stir in half of the remaining flour mixture, then the rest. Dough will be malleable and workable.

Spoon up scant-tablespoon quantities of dough and roll into chubby balls. Place balls about 5cm (2in) apart on prepared sheets.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until set; tops will crack slightly here and there. Let cookies stand on sheets 1 minute, then carefully remove them to cooling racks, using an offset metal spatula. Cool 5 to 8 minutes.

Rolling mixture: sift together confectioners' sugar and cocoa into large bowl. While cookies are still warm, carefully dredge them, a few at a time, in sugar-cocoa mixture to coat, then transfer to a sheet of waxed paper to cool. Dredge them lightly again, if you wish – the cookies will look prettier.
Store airtight at room temperature up to 5 days.

* there was a lot of mixture left – I believe that half of it would be enough to coat all the cookies

Makes 3 dozen cookies – I halved the recipe and got 19

Cocoa-chocolate chip pillows

21 comments:

sunita said...

Yes, being stuck in a car is no fun at all...glad you're fine though. And those are real treats...I so want to reach out and grab one :-)

Snooky doodle said...

what a nice cookie! I love this type of pillow :)they look so comforting.

May said...

Five hours in a car! Poor you! And we always think the trafic here in Nairobi is bad when there's floods...
Those cookies look fantastic and sooo delicious! :)

Sharon said...

Glad you got home safely! Cookies would make me feel better too :)

Ash said...

wow!!! these look fantastic!

Anonymous said...

You had me at 'pillows'.
:)

Great post.

Justine said...

looks amazin'!

Simones Kitchen said...

Five hours in the car... that is not good!! I can imagine you starting to daydream about those cookies. They looks absolutely delicious!!

Elyse said...

There's nothing like sitting in the car for 5 hours to make you wish you had a nice chocolate treat. I'm so glad you finally got home--and got to make these! They look delicious!!

Anonymous said...

So long in the car, a nightmare indeed.
These chocolate pillows look so good !...

Chris said...

They look so delicate with the coating of cocoa, almost like marshmallows. These sound super easy, too - I hope to try these out!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

sounds like a real ordeal! these cookies really look like soft pillows of chocolaty comfort. hope you are doing well, my friend?
hugs!

Unknown said...

wow...mouthwatering cookies..sounds delicious...i would like to try it once..gonna order the stuff to prepare cookies from www.myethnicworld.com.

hope you are good after being five hours stuck in a car.

Peabody said...

These look fun...and chocolaty, which is always a good thing.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Sunita, I'm fine, tks for your concern, darling.

Natalie, they are very light.
Tks!

May, it was so bad! Tks for caring, sweetie!
Sao Paulo is pretty chaotic.

Sharon, thank you!

Ash, tks!

Graeme, thank you! :D

Justine, tks for stopping by!

Simone, I was seeing things. :D

Elyse, thank you for caring and for your kind words, darling!
xx

Vanille, I was exhausted... :S
Tks!

Chris, you are right - I thought of the chocolate marshmallows I made a while ago when coating these.

Meeta, I'm fine, my dear? Hope you are well, too!
xx

Dawn, tks for stopping by!
I'm fine now, thank you for caring.

Pea, very chocolaty!

grace said...

oooh, the innards look great! and now that i think about it, i think i might enjoy sleeping on a pillow made of (unmeltable) chocolate. :)

Anonymous said...

glad you are okay. A similar incident happened to me a couple of years ago...I thought my car was going to be swept away...scary....but yes thoughts of chocolates help. This looks delish!

eatme_delicious said...

Mmm those cookies do look like perfect chocolate pillows!

Deborah said...

Oooh, these look like perfection!

Anonymous said...

i must... make... these... :)

Stella said...

Hi Pat!
wow, can't believe it's been ages since I've last posted a comment on your blog. I'm baking these right now & I can't wait for them to be ready!!
xxxxx

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