Ingredients
- 1 1⁄4 cups (7 1⁄8 ounces/205 grams) all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (3 ⁄4 ounce/20 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder I used Valrhona
- 1 ⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound plus 4 ounces (567 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped I used Callebaut
- 1 ⁄2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1⁄4 sticks/5 ounces/140 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 1⁄4 cups (1 pound plus 1⁄4 ounce/460 grams) sugar
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (12 ounces/340 grams) bittersweet chocolate chips I used semisweet mini chips
- 30 30
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Stir in the salt. Set aside. Place a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan filled with about 1 inch of water. Heat the water until very hot but not boiling. Put the chocolate in the bowl and stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove the bowl of chocolate from over the water and cool for ~ 5 – 10 minutes. I melted in the microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring in between.
Combine the softened butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle. Cream on medium until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time. Mix on medium until the eggs are incorporated.
Increase the speed to high and beat for a few minutes until the mixture is very light, creamy, and pale in color. Scrape down the bowl as needed. This is what gives the cookies the shiny, cracked tops. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla. Mix just until combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the dry ingredients with a spatula. Do not overmix or the cookies with be tough. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Start scooping the cookies as soon as the batter is made. The batter is very soft and sticky at first. But it starts firming up quickly as it sits, making it difficult to portion. The easiest way to portion the cookies is with a 2- oz ice cream scoop. Pack the scoop 3/4 full. Or use a scant 1 ⁄4 cup or 1 1 ⁄2 ounces of cookie dough for each cookie.
Scoop the cookies onto baking sheets lined with parchment, about 2 inches apart. Flatten each mound of dough slightly with a dampened hand.
Immediately after scooping the batter, place them in the oven. If baking in batches, don’t refrigerate the scooped dough. Instead, leave them at room temperature. They will not spread properly if the dough is chilled.
Bake until the cookie tops are evenly cracked and they are soft set, ~14 to 16 minutes. Rotate the pan at ~ 7 minutes. If you have 2 pans of cookies in the oven at the same time, also switch them between the racks.
Remove the pans from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Allow the cookies to cool completely before removing them from the baking sheets with a metal spatula.