On a recent outing to Philadelphia eatery Ela (the brainchild of hometown chef and restauranteur Jason Cichonski), Kyle ordered a dessert simply listed as “Cookie Dough” on their Final Bite menu. What came to the table, accompanied by vanilla-bay ice cream and a malted milk meringue, was an unassuming “cookie” baked in a ramekin. What he wasn’t prepared for was that that innocent-looking cookie crust housed a core of gooey, buttery sugar cookie dough streaked with melted chocolate chips. Needless to say, what ensued bore a disturbing resemblance to a Godzilla movie, wherein Kyle and his spoon were the monster and that poor dessert was Tokyo. Destroyed. He was instantly obsessed with recreating a gluten free version at home.
We were a little worried that the technique would follow suit for another favorite Ela recipe for Scallop Noodles, which are actually noodles made from puréed scallops that have been placed in a flat, airtight plastic pouch, then cooked sous-vide, forming a sheet of scallop that can be cut into thin strips and served like noodles. They are crazy, cool, delicious, and might make an appearance on the blog at some point, but they require special equipment and a little finesse. We were prepared for more of the same here, but fortunately, our fears were unfounded.
After a little googling, Kyle discovered a recipe on Epicurious for what is essentially the cookie version of Molten Chocolate Cake that was fairly–maybe even frighteningly–straightforward, accessible, and gave a similar result to the Ela dessert. The only special equipment called for were a set of baking ramekins. Game. On. This recipe isn’t so much a new offering as much as it is a re-imagining of our favorite Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. With a few simple adjustments (of course), this crowd pleasing cookie becomes a more formal affair worthy of your next dinner party. You can line the ramekins up on a rimmed baking sheet and pop the in the oven while you’re clearing the dinner dishes. They’ll be piping hot and ready to serve in about 10 minutes. (We started checking on them at the 8 minute mark, just to be paranoid safe.)
Using our work horse gluten free cookie flour blend, all that was needed to achieve the desired result was a higher cooking temperature, a shorter cooking time, and upgrading the “one egg plus one egg yolk” requirement for the cookie recipe to two whole eggs. While the extra egg white makes the batter too wet and loose for traditionally baked cookies, it works magic in the ramekin version, giving a nice golden crust to the cookie while allowing the center to remain liquid and deliciously molten.
Given that this is one of those recipes that looks more complicated and challenging than it actually is, we should probably take a moment to offer you a “You’re welcome” paired with a heartfelt “We’re so sorry.” This has the potential to become yet another Godzilla scenario, with the dessert being the monster and the part of Tokyo being played by your diet. Again, we’re sorry, and be warned that there is a peanut butter and chocolate chip version in the works. Actually, we can’t think of a cookie dough with which this technique wouldn’t work. Just think on that for a bit while I go fish my “fat pants” out of the back of the closet. Winter is coming…
And before you ask yourself “How dangerous can they be?”, just know that you can make the ramekins in advance and refrigerate them. This makes them super convenient for dinner parties–and they actually bake off a little better after chilling–but barring any specific occasion or purpose for them, it also means that you can have a batch of them on hand to bake off in a few minutes whenever the craving strikes. Did we mention that that’s a little dangerous? We’ll just send ourselves to our rooms.
Feel free to top these beautiful treats with a small scoop or a quenelle of your favorite ice cream, or even just a dollop of whipped cream (spiked with liqueur, of course), then serve them immediately. For our money, though, these are good enough to stand simply and elegantly on their own. Until the roaring, stomping and fire breathing start, that is… Enjoy!
Dessert inspired by Ela.
Technique adapted from Epicurious.
Find the recipe for Cookie Dough Flour here!
- 8.75 ounces Gluten-Free Cookie Flour
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3.5 ounces (½ cup) granulated sugar
- 5.25 ounces (¾ cup) packed dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 7.5 ounces (1¼ cups) semisweet chocolate chips
- Whisk flour, xanthan gum, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
- Heat butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl.
- Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated.
- Add eggs and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny.
- Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips, giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
- Scoop ¼ cup of dough into 8 ramekins. Refrigerate ramekins until dough is thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place ramekins on a baking sheet and bake until tops of dough are baked and golden, about 8 to 10 minutes. Surface will look baked, but centers will be molten and gooey (I find it’s best to err on the side of caution and check every minute after 8 minutes).
- Remove ramekins from oven and serve immediately.
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