There are no better ways to use left over chocolates than to make some delicious chocolate cookies. My husband calls this the heart attack cookie due to my mild allergies to peanuts (nothing serious, don't worry) and also because these cookies are packed with all the chocolate goodness you can get.
When you are making these cookies, I would highly recommend that you use chopped chocolate chunks instead of chocolate callets/buttons for that big melty bite of chocolate delights. I happened to have milk and white chocolate left over from my chocolate bonbons project and that is why this cookies was born.
RECIPE
Yield: 18 x Large Cookies
225g Unsalted butter
120g Caster sugar
120 g Light brown sugar
2 Large eggs
2 Large egg yolks
1 tsp Vanilla bean paste
150 g Bakers Flour
200 g Plain flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp Sea salt
120 g Milk Chocolate Chunks
160 g White Chocolate Chunks
130 g Chunky salted peanut butter
extra sea salt flakes for sprinkling
Method
1. Place the butter in the saucepan and bring to a boil until it turns in to medium brown in colour. You are looking for a nutty aroma and as soon as the butter starts to brown slightly, it will start to turn darker really quickly. So once it starts to brown, turn off the heat and allow for it to cool slightly. You have now made a "beurre noisette" or Hazelnut butter.
2. Once the beurre noisette has cooled, transfer it into a large mixing bowl together with the sediments under the pot (because this is what gives you that hazelnutty flavours).
Stir in the vanilla bean paste, caster sugar and the brown sugar into the butter followed by the eggs and egg yolks one egg at a time and mix with a wooden spoon until combined.
3. Add in the sifted flours, salt, baking powder and bi carbonate soda and stir to incorporate. Lastly mix in the milk chocolate, white chocolate and chunky peanut butter.
4. Scoop the cookie dough into individual balls with the help of an ice cream scoop (approximately 40 g each) and place them onto a tray with enough space for the cookies to spread. Cover the top of the cookie balls and let it chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
5. Pre heat the oven to 170°C then bake the cookies for approximately 15 minutes for a softer cookie and 18 to 20 minutes for a crunchier cookies.
Note: Different sizes cookies may require different baking time. The best thing to do is to test one cookie to gauge the best baking time before putting the whole batch in the oven.
6. Once the cookies are baked, if you are making the softer cookie, sprinkle with some seal salt flakes. Allow for it to slightly cool on the tray before sliding them over the wire rack to fully cool. The soft cookie will feel soft to handle out from the oven but will harden further as it cools.
Note: It is recommended that you bake the cookies in the oven one tray at a time for even baking. You can store the cookies in the fridge for up to a week and bake them fresh each time or store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. If you are freezing the cookie dough, it is best to roll them in to balls beforehand ( it would be quite challenging to scoop out frozen dough) then defrost them in the fridge before baking.
Cookies that are baked without chilling will come out flatter and the ones baked straight from the fridge after a day of chilling will appear chunkier.
