So I’ve had this idea for a while that I want to replicate some cookies that Matt and I had at the little bakery at El Rancho shopping center in Los Altos (I’m not sure what the name of it is). I’ve also had something similar at Bytes Cafe at Stanford. Anyway, the original cookies are some of the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. They are fudgy and chewy, but sort of crispy around the edges like the corner brownie. The tops of them look a little like a meringue cookie — sort of smooth, a bit shiny, and crackly looking, but they are more like a regular cookie than a meringue cookie.
I tried once before to make something like them from a recipe I found online (which I have now lost) that sounded similar from their description. They were good, but not at all what I was trying for, more like a regular chocolate chip cookie with cocoa added.
This second attempt came much closer to what I’m going for. My strategy was to mix a regular chocolate chip cookie recipe (I used the Neiman Marcus cookie recipe to get basic proportions) and a meringue cookie recipe (I got one from Cooking Light) and mix the batters together. I also added cocoa and baking chocolate to get them nice and fudgy. They still aren’t perfect — not quite as dark of chocolate or shiny on top as I was imagining, but I think they turned out pretty well. Here’s the recipe. If you try them, let me know how they turn out!
Ingredients:
1 stick butter (I actually used 1 T margarine and the rest butter since I was short)
1 c light brown sugar
2 eggs, separated; whites room temperature
2 t vanilla
2 oz semisweet baking chocolate
1 3/4 c flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 T cocoa
1/8 t cream of tartar
3/4 c granulated sugar
3/4 c chocolate chips
3/4 c chopped pecans
Note: You will need to use a clean mixing bowl for beating the egg whites. I decided to use a hand blender to cream the butter and sugar because I only have one mixing bowl and I didn’t want to have to wash it in between steps.
- Preheat oven to 300 F.
- In a double boiler, melt semisweet chocolate. Let cool slightly while you:
- Cream butter and brown sugar. Beat in egg yolks, vanilla, and melted chocolate.
- Mix together dry ingredients (flour through cocoa) and add to creamed mixture. This will be a pretty stiff batter.
- In a clean bowl and with very clean beaters, beat egg whites until frothy. Add cream of tartar. Continue to beat egg whites. A little before soft peaks form, gradually begin adding granulated sugar, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.
- Fold egg whites into cookie batter. Then, fold in chocolate chips and nuts.
- Drop by teaspoons or tablespoons (depending on how big a cookie you like) onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake about 25 minutes for pretty small cookies, about 30 minutes for larger cookies (or if you like them crispier). I baked them until they were still a little soft but not gooey when gently pressed. Cool on wire racks.
They turned out pretty well. The cookies are pretty chewy and brownie like, and very rich. They were delicious, but I’m still going for something chewy in the middle like that but a little crispy on the edges and top. Also, I wanted them to be a little bit more peppermint-y. Next time I’ll add a few drops of peppermint extract. I garnished them with little bits of chopped peppermint bark, but they were too small, so they don’t really give a hint to the cookie’s contents like I wanted. Next time, I’ll reserve some of the peppermint bark and press in a few larger pieces into each cookie before baking. The peppermint bark is a little unusual in a cookie, and I liked the way it turned out a lot. The candy cane pieces add a pleasant chewy-crunch, adding more texture than a normal cookie. These are definitely something I will make again.