Thursday, July 3, 2014

crisp chocolate bites

I have been planning to bake some cookies because I haven't baked any for a while.

I wanted something chocolaty.

That's not too much to ask for, right?
Well, it so happened that the theme for this month's Bake-Along is Crisp Chocolate Bites from Williams-Sonoma.

Well, you know what they say:
So since the recipe was already calling out to me, I made a batch of these cookies.

Here's how!

In a small saucepan over low heat, I stirred together chocolate and butter. Once the mixture was smooth, I poured the mixture into my mixing bowl.
I added sugar and beat for a minute or so.
Then I added the egg and vanilla extract.
The mixture would thicken.

Finally I added the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in 3 additions.
The resulting batter would be runny.

The batter was chilled for at least an hour, or until it had solidified. I used my ice-cream scoop to dish the cookies and rolled them into balls.
 I rolled the balls in icing sugar.
And placed them onto a baking tray.
They were baked for 12 minutes.
I cooled them in the tray for 10-15 minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
They were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

And since I used Valrhona chocolate (70%), the icing sugar balanced the bitterness of the chocolate.

RECIPE
Crisp Chocolate Bites (Makes 18 medium cookies)
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:
6 Tbs. (3/4 stick / 85.05g)) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 oz. (60g) unsweetened chocolate, chopped - I used Valrhona 70%
1 cup (225g) granulated sugar - I reduced this by 25%
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup (93.75g) plain flour
1/4 cup (88.5g) unsweetened Dutch process cocoa  powder - I used Valrhona
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (62.5g) icing sugar

Method:
In a small saucepan over very low heat, combine the butter and chocolate. Cook, stirring occasionally, just until they are melted and the mixture is smooth.

Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl and let cool slightly. Stir in the granulated sugar until evenly moistened. Add the egg and vanilla, beating until light and fluffy.

Over a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat an oven to 375°F (190.55°C). Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper.

Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator. Shape the dough into 3/4-inch balls and roll in the confectioners' sugar to coat completely. Place the balls about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared pans. Bake the cookies until puffed and cracked on top, about 12 minutes. They may appear underdone in the center but will turn crisp as they cool. Let cool on the pans for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 42 cookies.

This post is linked to Bake Along hosted by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Lena from Her Frozen Wings. 

6 comments:

  1. Love the milk bottle and straw.

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  2. Hi Diana,
    You are fantastic with the step-by-step photos!
    Glad that you had your chocolaty cookies fix! Haha!
    Thanks for baking along with us!

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  3. Diana, give me a batch of these crisp chocolate bites and I'll be happy to munch them in front of the TV. LOL!

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  4. hi diana, i;m glad that you hv chosen to make these cookies to satisfy your chocolate fix! i had used lindt 90% but did not find them chocolatey enough for me, however they were still nice to eat.. appreciate your participation to bake along with us!

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  5. Hi Diana,

    Sorry for my late visit... Funny that you said that this recipe is calling out to you... It did the same to me when I saw it in the book and also its great reviews at WS website. Glad that you like them :D

    Zoe

    ReplyDelete