A Bit Of An Oops!!!

In my last post I did say that normal baking service would be resuming soon.  This is not an example of what I would like to consider my normal 'service'.  In fact, it is a bit of an oops!  I was catching up on my blogs the other day when I noticed that Cooking with Christine had posted a rather delish looking recipe for the May Cookie Carnival and is hosted by Tami's Kitchen Table Talk.  As is so often the case with me, one thing lead to another and I am now a member of the Cookie Carnival crew too - I blame Christine myself ;0)

Anyhoo, this meant that I also got to try out the recipe for May ... well actually there were two recipes to choose from for May but only one had chocolate in it and we all know where my priorities lie!  It isn't the rip roaring success that I was hoping for but I think most of the blame lies with me.  I used milk chocolate in place of the dark as we aren't the biggest fans of the bitter-ish flavour that comes with the later.  This has resulted in an anemic looking cookie that is just way too sweet ... even for me and that is saying something!  I'm not quite sure what caused the next problem but these cookies just kept on spreading so now I have dinner plate sized cookies that are as flat as pancakes and far too sweet for anybody to eat all of one in a sitting - although Hubby is giving it a pretty good shot ~ I am expecting him to go into a hypoglycemic shock any minute now!

I've posted the recipe below but to be honest I'm not sure I would bother making these again.  (Now I've typed those words I feel instantly mean!)

Outrageous Chocolate Cookies
225g chocolate, roughly chopped
60g unsalted butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
340g chocolate chunks (I used white chocolate)

Preheat oven to 175C. Melt chopped chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on sheets 10 minutes; with a thin metal spatula, transfer to racks to cool completely.

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Martha Stewart Website