Black Forest Cookies

Yield: 24 cookies

Big NOTE!: These are rich but so good. Great for this holiday season. Also PLEASE remember to lower the temperature of the oven by 25 degrees if you are using a non-stick dark pan!!!! The bottoms will burn by the time the rest of the cookie bakes if you don't. These are yummy and worth the overnight or 6 hour wait for the dough to cool!
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
16 oz dark chocolate (60-72% cacao), coarsely chopped
10 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1" pieces
6 large eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup (6 oz) white chocolate chips
1 cup (6 oz) dried cherries

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl & set aside.

In a large nonreactive metal bowl, combine the dark chocolate and butter. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugars on high speed until the mixture is pale and thick, about 5 minutes.

Add the cooled chocolate mixture and the vanilla and beat until just combined. Scrape down the bowl and beat again for 10 seconds.

Add the flour mixture and mix on low until just combined, about 10 seconds. Do not over mix.

Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and dried cherries. The dough will look very loose, but it will harden in the refrigerator. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (or 350 degrees F if using dark or nonstick pans). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time, until the tops of the cookies are set and begin to show a few cracks. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before removing from the pans and serving.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Chocolate Chunkers - Caution: cookies taste yummier than they appear!

Another Dorie Greenspan recipe I had to try. Her description of these were "truly fabulous". Though these look kind of ho hum they are far from. In my photos you can only see the white chocolate chips and maybe a peanut here and there, there is also mixed plump raisins, semi sweet chips in there as well!

After reading the measurements again, I weighed the chocolate chips rather than use a whole cup.So my cookies are as filled and there's more cookie dough.  Don't forget, if you are not chopping up premium chocolate but using chips, it's a whole cup. Either way....wow!

A note on the chunks: these cookies are very good made with store-bought chocolate chips, but are stupendous made with hand-chopped excellent quality chocolate....according to Dorie Greenspan.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

3 Tsp unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces

6 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 large eggs, room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 cup store bought chocolate chips or chunks

6 oz premium quality milk or white chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 cup store-bought chocolate chips or chunks

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped nuts, preferably salted peanuts or toasted pecans

1 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden) or finely chopped moist, plump dried apricots

I used my favorite Sun Maid Mixed plump raisins for this recipe. I love using these. They are so big and plump and really add to any recipe that requires raisins.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Please do NOT forget..if your pan is dark or nonstick...make it 325 degrees! This does and will affect the cookies. The bottoms will burn before the cookie is finished. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats (I love mine).

1. Sift together flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder.
2. Set a heatproof bowl over saucepan of simmering water. Add the butter, bittersweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate and heat, stirring occasionally, just until melted - the chocolate and butter should be smooth and shiny but not so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the heat and set it aside to cool.
3. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until they are pale and foamy.
4. Beat in vanilla extract, then scrape down the bowl.
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the melted butter and chocolate, mixing only until incorporated.
6. With rubber spatula, scrape down the bowl, then on low speed, add the dry ingredients. Mix just until the dry ingredients disappear into the dough, which will be thick, smooth and shiny.
7. Scrape down the bowl and, using the rubber spatula, mix in the semi-sweet and milk(or white) chocolate chunks, nuts and raisins - you'll have more crunchies than dough at this point. (The dough can be wrapped in plastic and kept refrigerated for up to 3 days.)
8. Drop the dough by generous heaping tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving about an inch of space between them
9. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 10 or 12 minutes. The tops of the cookies will appear dry but the interiors should still be soft. Remove the baking sheet and carefully, using a broad metal spatula, lift the cookies onto a cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
10. Repeat with remaining dough, baking only one sheet at a time and making sure to cool the baking sheets between batches.
11. If, when the cookies are cooled, the chocolate is still gooey and you'd like it to be a bit firmer, just pop the cookies into the fridge for about 10 minutes.