Gluten Free Chocolate Fudge Cookies

Okay, so we might need an intervention.  We realize that there has been a preponderance of “dessert” recipes in the last couple of weeks, but bear with us.  There’s been a lot of baking going on in anticipation of the holidays and it just seems silly not to feature, like, ALL of it here on the blog.  Besides, there hasn’t been a lot of time to prepare, photograph and write up many entrée or appetizer recipes.  Division of duties aside, there’s a lot to be said for multitasking when it comes to creating content in the midst of all of the madness.  In that spirit, you might want to search YouTube for some Sweet Tooth Pilates or yoga, since said dental superhero should probably stretch and get a good core workout in before the sugar gauntlet commences.  Today we’re checking off yet another classic cookie from the gluten free recipe wish list.  The chocolate chocolate chip cookie is an old favorite, and not surprisingly, our beloved Cook’s Illustrated won the adaptation lottery with a recipe for “Thick and Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies.”  I mean, how can anything else compete with that?  Yes, please!  Given that Cook’s Illustrated is a paragon of recipe testing, we knew that our favorite gluten free cookie flour blend would “rise” to the occasion, yet again (see what we did there?), and give us the results that we were aiming for.

The only thing even remotely suspicious about the original recipe is that it seems to have been commissioned by Dawn dish washing liquid.  Believe it or not, it calls for FOUR mixing bowls and a stand mixer.  We don’t know about you, but we have neither the space nor the army of house elves—although that dream will never die—to contend with all of those dirty dishes.

 Honestly, the only real tweaking that had to be done—aside from easily rendering the recipe gluten free—was to streamline the preparation of the dough.  Kyle, being the resident culinary genius, pared it down to just two bowls.  The stand mixer had to content itself with unanswered pleas to “put me in, coach.”  It stayed in the corner, shiny and clean.  Game, set, and match to Efficiency! Woohoo!

The rest of the recipe remained relatively intact, and when you get a load of the ingredients list, you’ll understand why, because “Hubba, Hubba!”  Chocolate, cocoa, brown sugar, vanilla, butter, espresso powder…it will make even the most sturdy chocoholic swoon and begin searching Amazon for a fainting couch (No. Lie.)  For this version, we rely on the “wet ingredients in one bowl, dry ingredients in another” technique.

After sifting together the dry ingredients, the chocolate and butter were melted together in a large bowl, then left to cool a bit.  Next the sugars were stirred in until dissolved, then the eggs and vanilla were added to the mix.  Since the chocolate had cooled sufficiently by that point, it wasn’t even necessary to temper the eggs, so that was another win for the streamlining column.  All that remained was to fold in the dry ingredients and add the chocolate chips and we were in the home stretch.

As for the chocolate, we’ve made this recipe with both semi-sweet and milk chocolate and found no discernible difference in the finished product, due mainly to the fact that the “fudginess” of these cookies comes from a good quality cocoa powder (we’re partial to Hershey’s Special Dark, btw), so as far as the chocolate is concerned, feel free to use whatever you have on hand or what is on sale.  Once the cookie dough comes together, you won’t know the difference unless you have some sort of freakish “Rainman” tastebuds.

You might also feel that the dough is a little on the soupy side, but rest assured, all is well.  The final step before portioning and baking is to let the dough chill out in the fridge for thirty minutes, activating the xanthan gum and setting the dough to a beautiful, fudge-like consistency.  Using a 1 1/2 ounce scoop, portion the dough into balls and place on two parchment-lined baking sheets.

All that is required is 10 minutes in a 350º oven for perfectly baked cookies that sport a wonderful crispy-soft crust and a warm, fudge-y center.  It’s basically the cookie equivalent to Chocolate Molten Lava Cake, so there’s that future addiction to conquer.  (Seriously, is that fainting couch here yet?!?)

Speaking of future addictions, if you happen to be making these cookies and the Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies on the same day, do yourself a HUGE favor and gently fold equal portions of each dough together for a batch of Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Swirl Cookies.  Yeah.  And pay no attention to that loud tearing noise.  It’s just the fabric of the Universe ripping right down the middle because it just can’t handle the deliciousness.  No big, but seriously, you’ve been warned.

Adapted from the Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook.
Find the recipe for Cookie Dough Flour here!

Gluten Free Chocolate Fudge Cookies

 

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Serves: About 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 5 ounces (1 cup) gluten free cookie dough flour
• ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
• ¾ ounce (¼ cup) cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee or espresso powder
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (or 8 ounces chocolate chips)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 5 ¼ ounces (¾ cups) packed light brown sugar
• 1 ¾ ounces (¼ cup) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk cookie dough flour, xanthan gum, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and instant coffee in medium bowl; set aside.
2. In a large glass bowl, microwave chocolate and butter at 50 percent power for 2 minutes. Stir and continue heating until melted, stirring once every additional minute. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Whisk sugars into melted chocolate mixture, then whisk in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla.
4. With a rubber spatula, fold in dry ingredients, stirring to combine. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Working with 1 ½ tablespoons of dough at a time, roll into balls and place 1 ½ inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
6. Bake cookies until edges have just begun to set but centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes, switching and rotating baking sheets halfway through baking.
7. Cool cookies on sheets about 10 minutes; transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

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