Bittersweet Decadence Cookies Food

BITTERSWEET DECADENCE COOKIES

Steps:

• Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment or wax paper.
• In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt thoroughly; set aside.
• Place 8 ounces of chocolate and the butter in a large heatproof bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water and stir frequently just until melted and smooth. Remove the chocolate from the skillet and set it aside.
• Leave the heat on under skillet.
• In a large heatproof bowl, whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla thoroughly.
• Set the bowl in the skillet and stir until the mixture is lukewarm.
• Stir the egg mixture into the warm (not hot) chocolate.
• Stir in the flour mixture, then the nuts and chocolate chunks.
• Scoop slightly rounded tablespoons of batter 1 1/2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.
• Bake until the surface of the cookies looks dry and set, but the center is still gooey, 12 to 14 minutes.
• If you used parchment or wax paper, carefully slide the cookies, still on paper, onto racks, or set the pans on the racks. Otherwise, let the cookies firm up on the pans for a minute, then transfer them to the racks with a metal pancake turner.
• Let cool completely.
• Store in a tightly sealed container.

CHOCOLATE DECADENCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Butter six ramekins or custard cups. Melt chocolate and butter slowly: You can do this in a double boiler, over, not in, simmering water, or in microwave, stirring to prevent scorching. Stir until completely smooth.
• In a medium bowl, beat eggs with electric mixer until frothy, about 5 to 6 minutes. Stir vanilla and salt gently into beaten eggs. Fold half of egg mixture into chocolate mixture, mix well. Then fold remainder of egg mixture into chocolate mixture. Pour chocolate and egg mixture into prepared ramekins.
• Line a roasting pan with a damp kitchen towel. Place ramekins on towel, inside roasting pan. Butter a piece of foil big enough to cover entire pan, and cover the ramekins, buttered side down. Place roasting pan on oven rack. Fill roasting pan with boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake 5 minutes, then remove foil and bake 10 minutes more. Remove ramekins from water carefully. Let cool on wire rack for at least 3 hours. Cakes will firm up as they cool. Unmold each room-temperature ramekin onto a dessert plate, garnish and serve. Refrigerate unused portions.

GLUTEN-FREE BITTERSWEET DECADENCE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350*F.
• In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside. Place 8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate chips and butter in a medium microwavable bowl and heat for 1 minute. Stir the chocolate butter mixture and microwave again for 30 seconds. Continue to microwave and stir until the chips have melted and the mixture is smooth, set aside.
• In a heatproof bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla thoroughly and set the bowl over a pot of just barely simmering water using it as a double broiler. Continue to whisk everything until the mixture is lukewarm.
• Combine the egg and chocolate mixture (should be lukewarm) stirring until they are well combined.
• Add the flour mixture, 6 ounces chocolate chips, and pecans. The batter will look like thick cake batter. Don't worry, after they bake they will look like and taste like cookies!
• Scoop the dough (it will look wet and sloppy) into rounded tablespoons on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, 2 inches apart.
• Bake 14 minutes until the surface of the cookies looks dry and set. With the cookies still on the parchment paper, slide them onto racks to cool. Gently peel the parchment paper back after cookies have cooled for at least 30 minutes.