Cherry-Nut Mudslides Cookies

By MJH

A deeply rich, moist cookie speckled with hazelnuts, pistachios and dried cherries. It’s a good thing you can serve them warm. You won’t want to wait!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup hazelnuts
• 2 pounds bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, divided
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup salted pistachios, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped

Details

Servings 5
Preparation time 45mins
Cooking time 105mins
Adapted from foodandwine.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350F°.

Toast hazelnuts in a pie plate for 12 minutes, until the skins blister.

Transfer to a towel and rub to remove the skins. Coarsely chop the nuts.

In a large bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt 1 pound of the bittersweet chocolate with all of the unsweetened chocolate.

Let cool completely.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Beat in the sugar until sandy. Beat in the eggs, then beat in the melted chocolate.

At low speed, beat in the flour mixture.

Fold in the pistachios, cherries, hazelnuts and the remaining bittersweet chocolate.

For each cookie, scoop 2 tablespoons of dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and roll into a ball. Place balls about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake in batches for 15 minutes, just until the tops are lightly cracked. Shift the sheets from top to bottom and front to back of the oven halfway through for even baking.

Transfer cookie sheets to racks to cool slightly, then transfer the cookies to wire racks.

Serve warm or at room temperature.