I don’t even like chocolate cookies, and I like these.
The “double” in the name is for double chocolate – chocolate cookie, chocolate chips. I also made them twice in the last week, which is really unusual for me. Generally, I like to experiment with new and unusual varieties of recipes, so for a nearly identical version of a recipe to turn up in the house more than once in a short period of time is almost unheard of. (The only exception to this is my go-to brownie recipe since I can throw it together super quickly and everyone loves it.)
Charlie only got to taste a few of these cookies during the first round, since batch number one was a gift for an old employer of mine (a dressmaker, which is where the name comes from), and most of the leftovers went home with my brother, Jon, who was around when I was making them. Charlie and I had a few friends over for a non-poker card night (games like Spoons, Bullshit, Egyptian Ratscrew, Asshole, and Fluxx are on our agenda), and I decided to whip them up again (though I substituted a Shipyard Pumpkin Ale instead of the Lion’s Stout). Charlie said he was so glad I made them again right away because sometimes I make something he really loves and then he has to wait for ages for it to come back into circulation again! They were a huge hit with our friends that came over, and I spread the goodness around a bit further by sharing some with my sister and my art teacher.
I’m generally a fan of the “puffy” cookie when I’m baking, but when it comes to chocolate chocolate chip, I definitely think chewy is the way to go. I’d acquired some bulk vital wheat gluten when we were at our friend’s hippie co-op in Massachusetts a few weeks ago, so I added extra into the recipe to make them really chewy, and the texture was awesome.
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway of that darling teapot! Details are here.
Jon helped me with the dishes and “helped” with this photo…
Ingredients
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten*
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 12 oz can of Lion’s Stout (or other dark stout)
1/2 a bag of dark chocolate chips, give or take
*If you don’t have vital wheat gluten, it’s not the end of the world. It just makes the cookies chewier (and even add a little protein!). Another option for making chewier cookies is to substitute bread flour for all-purpose flour. The cookies will still be delicious, chocolatey stout cookies without either of those changes.
Directions
First things first. Start your stout simmering in a small saucepan on the stove on low heat… that’s going to take a while. You want to reduce it until it’s a syrup-y consistancy. Make sure that you check on it occasionally and stir it. At the beginning, it may be inclined to form a “head” like when you pour beer into a glass, except way more extreme, so keep an eye on it or it will be all over your stove.
Cream together the butter and the brown sugar and the white sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer, or in a large bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing as you go. Add the vanilla extract after that and give it a good stir. Check on the stout.
In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, vital wheat gluten, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Stir them with a wisk (since I never bother to sift my flour) to get the big lumps out.
Check on the stout. If it’s not looking very much reduced, turn up the heat a little, but watch it even more closely. (While I was writing this, my laptop was directly next to the stove with my trusty wooden spoon in between to stir it up if needed.) You’ll notice that the stout starts to coat the bottom of the pan when it’s almost ready. The final amount of stout will be a little less than 1/4 cup. It will obviously be quite hot, so I pour it into a glass measuring cup and put that in an ice bath before putting it into the cookie dough mixture.
When the syrup is finally the proper consistency, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the dry ingredients and the syrup into the creamed mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips.
On a parchment lined baking sheet, drop tablespoons of the cookie dough. Bake for 10-14 minutes depending on your oven and your preference for softer or crispier cookies.
I am going to make these tonight!!! I got a growler of Oatmeal Stout from work and I told Phil I’d either make these or the beer pie — he chose cookies. :) :)