The Ultimate Cakey Cookie

By miss5elements

Chocolate Rads
With just a hint of coffee flavor, this gooey, chocolatey wonder hails from California wine country, where "The Model Bakery Cookbook" authors Karen Mitchell and daughter Sarah Mitchell Hansen thrill fans with treats from their Napa Valley outpost. Guittard semisweet chips ($9; kingarthurflour.com) are "hands down our top choice for this recipe," says Mitchell, who explains that the name stems from the word "radical" - ardent chocolate worshippers can relate!

Tools Make Baking A Breeze
Stand Mixer: save your workout for the gym & invest in one. The various speeds & attachments make it a baker's best friend.
Quick-Release Ice Cream Scoop: It delivers a uniform amount of batter w/every portion, ensuring even baking.
Heavy-Duty Sheet Pans: Cookies baked on too-thin pans burn on the bottom or bake unevenly. Think of these as your key to optimal results.
Parchment: For a quick cleanup, line a baking sheet with ovenproof paper (it's safe up to 425F) before placing your batter on top.
Fish Spatula: Its thin metal edge lets you slide just-baked cookies off the pan w/o buckling, which can happen w/a rubber spatula.
Stacking Rack: The triple-tier design is a genius space saver, and placing hot cookies on a rack allows for more airflow, faster cooling, & quicker eating!

Ingredients

• 2/3 c unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2.5 t baking powder
• 1/4 t fine sea salt
• 1 lb semisweet chocolate (no more than 55% cacao), roughly chopped
• 4 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 2/3 c sugar
• 4 lg eggs, at room temperature
• 1 T cold brewed espresso (or 1t instant espresso dissolved in 1T boiling water and cooled)
• 2.5 t pure vanilla extract
• 2 c semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 c walnuts, chopped

Details

Servings 18
Preparation time 110mins
Cooking time 135mins
Adapted from instyle.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl, set aside.
2. Put chopped chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl, preferably stainless steel. Set over a large saucepan of barely simmering water and let stand, stirring occasionally, just until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Add butter and stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat.
3. Beat sugar & eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted w/the whisk attachment on high speed until mixer is fluffy, thick, and pale yellow, about 5 min. (Or whisk by hand for about 8 min.) Beat in espresso & vanilla.
4. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add melted chocolate & butter mixture. Add flour mixture, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure that the batter is completely mixed. Stir in chocolate chips & walnuts. Transfer bowl to the fridge to chill until firm enough to shape, about 30 minutes.
5. Divide dough in half. Place an 18'x13" sheet of parchment paper on a work surface. Drop large spoonfuls of dough across the width of the paper. Using wet hands, pat & shape the dough into two 9" even logs. Wrap dough in the parchment paper. Place logs on a baking sheet & refrigerate at least 2 hrs or until firm enough to slice.
6. Position racks in the top third & center of the oven; preheat to 350F. Line 2 cookie sheets w/parchment paper.
7. Since the logs will be flat where they sat on the baking sheet, roll wrapped dough on the work surface to smooth it so slices will be round. Unwrap the dough.
8. Using a thin, sharp knife dipped in water, cut each log into nine 1" thick rounds.
9. Bake, switching the position of the pans from top to bottom & front to back halfway through baking, until the tops of cookies are cracked & the edges are beginning to crisp, about 20 min. Let cool on the pans 5 min. Transfer cookies to wire racks. Repeat w/remaining dough rounds on a cooled pan.