Well, it’s that time of year again! The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap – yum! yum!
Love and Olive Oil and The Little Kitchen food blogs hosted their fourth annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap and I signed up to be a “cookie pen pal” with three other food bloggers. The premise of the cookie swap was simple – sign up and make a donation to this years charity recipient. Receive the addresses of three other food bloggers. Send each of them one dozen delicious homemade cookies. Receive three different boxes of scrumptious cookies from other bloggers. Eat them all yourself (or, you know, share. If you want. No judgment either way.) Post your cookie recipe on your blog. See everyone else’s cookie recipes. Salivate. Get lots of great ideas for next year’s cookie swap.
The charity that will receive all the donations this year is Cookies for Kids Cancer, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease.
I have to admit, this was really fun. I thought about what cookies I wanted to send to my new blogger pals – which would make it through the journey, which would best represent “me,” which one would be the most tasty – you know, the important things. And so I decided on this double chocolate walnut cookie recipe because nothing represents me more than chocolate! I wrapped them up and sent them off to Amanda at Amanda K by the Bay, Kristen at No Reservations, and Renee at Married and Hungry. (I hope you liked them and they arrived in one piece!)
And then just one week later I received the most delicious cookies on my doorstep! One dozen double fudgy chocolate chip cookies (chocolate, chocolate chips, cherry goodness!) from Ka Ning at Wok, Paper, Scissors, one dozen white chocolate chip cranberry cookies (soft and buttery tastiness!) from Liz at A Nut in a Nutshell, and one dozen Without the Ice Cream Cookies (chocolate layered butter bars with crunchy pretzel love!) from Lauren at Kale and Cookie Dough.
They were all delicious! Be sure to check out their cookie recipes! AMAZING!
double chocolate walnut cookies
makes 40 smallish cookies or 20 large cookies
1 pound high quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp espresso powder
1/2 cup cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
Melt the bittersweet chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and the eggs together until pale yellow and thick, about five minutes. Beat in melted chocolate, melted butter, vanilla and espresso powder.
In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Mix dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture. Mix in chocolate chips and nuts.
Here’s the catch – this batter has to sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes before you can bake it. So, you have a few options. If you have tons of room in your fridge, then scoop the batter onto a parchment lined baking sheet and then place the baking sheet directly into the oven when it’s time to bake. If you don’t have tons of room in your fridge, then do what I do and place the scooped batter onto a large plate covered in cooking spray (or plastic film.) If you are making the smaller cookie version, use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop out the cookie dough and then press it together with moist fingertips to form a 2 inch round. (Use a 1/2 measuring cup for the larger size cookies – and form a 3 1/2 inch round. Refrigerate the uncooked batter for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies until tops become dry and cracked, about 16 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven, but allow them to sit on the parchment for about five minutes then cool completely on a cookie rack. If there are any cookies left over, you can store them in airtight container for up to five days.
notes: So I have used this recipe for years and it came from one of my really good private chef friends. When I asked her where she got the recipe she couldn’t remember – but, having searched around on the internet it seems to have come from Bon Appetit. Here’s the only link I could find – enjoy!
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