Chocolate, at home and from afar

I was more than surprised when a package from Scharffen Berger showed up at my apartment a couple of weeks ago. Based out of the Bay Area, Scharffen Berger produces the most amazing (and expensive) chocolate for eating and cooking. Many a time I have picked up a bar in Whole Foods, held it in my hand longingly, only to trade it in for the cheaper version available.

As I opened the package, I was shocked to discover that my sister had ordered three 9 oz. bars of the delectable chocolate for my birthday. Shocked, because right now, Jessie is somewhere in the middle of Equador which makes her far, far away from Scharffen Berger HQ . Hurray for the wonders of the internet!

Because these bars are special — both because my sister got them for me and because of the superior quality — I wanted to make something with them that would really highlight the chocolate. Not only use the chocolate, but also place the chocolate front and center. I decided to make a recipe from the SB website; though I was leaning towards making a cake, Isaac piped up and made the obvious point that making an entire cake for two people immediately sets us up for failure in some aspect. Either we don't eat the entire cake, and then we have failed ourselves as cooks and consumers, or we do eat the entire cake and then all of our working out and slaving away at the gym has been for naught. What is a girl to do?

Cookies, of course. Bite sized double chocolate chunk cookies made with the 99% chocolate bar. According to the website,"99% Cacao Unsweetened Chocolate is a blend of up to nine different bean sources. It is fruity, mildly acidic, with soft tannins to help the flavors linger in your mouth." According to me, this chocolate is so rich, so dark, and so flavorful, that it would be almost impossible to cook with it and screw something up. I especially like the chunks of chocolate in the cookies. By itself, the 99% is too strong to eat, but when the dark, mysterious chunks of chocolate are surrounded by the cake-like cookie, something magical happens. Make these cookies today, because if you make them tomorrow, there is no way any healthy-eating related resolutions will make it past January 2.

Happy New Years to all!

Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies/99%

Very slightly adapted from the Scharffen Berger website

Ingredients

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
9.7 ounces (1 box) Scharffen Berger 99% Cacao Unsweetened Chocolate (6 ounces to melt and remainder broken into small chunks)
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons finely ground coffee
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

In a double boiler, melt the butter and 6 ounces of the chocolate over simmering water. Stir occasionally until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.

In the meantime, use an electric mixer on high speed to beat together the eggs, sugar, coffee, and vanilla. Beat for 5 minutes until the mixture is thick.

Turn the mixer down to low speed and slowly add the warm butter and chocolate mixture. Scrape down the bowl and mix until just incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients and the chocolate chunks and mix thoroughly by hand.

Drop the dough, in heaping tablespoons, two inches apart onto a baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes total. Rotate the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Be sure not to overbake. Remove from pan with a metal spatula and cool on racks.

Makes about twenty-four 2 to 3 inch cookies. Cookies keep for two days at room temperature and for a month if frozen.