Mausi’s Midnight Crackles

Whenever my daughter is baking it has to be a recipe including some chocolate. This time she wanted to bring some chocolate cookies to school. Her and her classmates had a small celebration after finishing  lesson #100 in their math book.

Mausi (is one of my daughter’s nick names since birth and means little mouse in German) decided on a recipe she liked in my copy of Dorie Greenspan’s book “Baking from my home to yours“. Dorie’s midnight crackle cookies are packed with chocolate. The recipe calls for 10 ounces of bittersweet chocolate and 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder. They are spiced with cinnamon and cloves. A delight for any chocoholic!

The recipe is very easy and Mausi baked the midnight crackles all by herself. The result was unbelievably tasty. She had to stop us from going back for too many more, since she still wanted to bring some to school. I have to admit that these cookies are very addictive and a must for any chocolate lover.

Ingredients:

*  1 stick plus 2 tablespoons (10 tablespoons or 143 g)) unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
*  1 1/4 cups (packed) (250 g) light brown sugar
*  10 ounces (285 g) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
*  2 1/2 cups (300 g) all purpose flour
*  1/2 cup (41 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
*  1 teaspoon baking soda
*  1/2 teaspoon salt
*  1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
*  1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
*  2 large eggs

Directions:

Put the butter, sugar and chocolate, in that order, into a 2-quart saucepan. Set the pan over low heat and warm the ingredients, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth. Scrape into the bowl of a stand mixer or another large bowl.
Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves.
Working with the stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer on low speed, add the eggs to the chocolate mixture one at a time, beating until they are well blended into the chocolate. With the mixer still on low, add the dry ingredients, mixing just until the dough is smooth and shiny; it will clean the sides of the bowl and form a ball. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide it in half. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour, or for up to 3 days. (If the dough is solid, leave it on the counter for 30 minutes before proceeding.)
Getting Ready to Bake: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
Working with 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, roll the dough between your palms into firm, shiny balls (if the dough breaks as you work, squeeze and knead it a bit, then re roll it between your palms) and place about 1 inch apart on baking sheets. Lightly press each one down a tad with your fingertips.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The cookies should be delicately firm and cracked across the top. (It’s better to under- than over bake.) Remove the sheets from the oven and let the cookies rest on the sheets for 2 minutes, then, using a wide metal spatula, gently transfer the cookies to a rack. Cool to room temperature.
Repeat with remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

Makes about 50 cookies.

Tagged as: chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, mausi