World Peace Cookies

So I hear every Miss World wannabe asking for world peace. As far as everyone knows, what do they know about world peace, let alone, anything? I’m kidding. I’m certain many of them got the brains. But did you hear about Singapore’s Ris Low? Case closed. I’m not really a fan of beauty pageants. You won’t find me glued to the TV watching every country’s beauty. It’s just not my thing. So sue me.

Richard Gold, a neighbour of Dorie’s, is convinced that “a daily dose of the cookies is all that’s needed to ensure planetary peace and happiness”. Right. A little exaggeration on his part, ya think? These cookies seem to be the talk of the blogosphere. Everyone raves about how great these are that these may be their number one favorite cookie. Even Dorie has this story about how she got invited to a luncheon and the family’s chef served her her recipe unknowingly. Okay so I was not too happy with these cookies. They were to be “sensationally salty” (i quote Dorie) but weren’t a wee bit salty. I had to sprinkle a little sea salt on every cookie for that sensation. haha. In fact, these cookies tasted like chocolate chip cookies from Mark’s and Spencer’s.

To me, these were sweet, despite cutting down on the white sugar. So if i’m ever making these again -although I really don’t know if I will- I will either decrease the sugar needed or use unsweetened chocolate. However, if you have that oh-so-sweet tooth, the heck with it!

World Peace Cookies  

(Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from my home to yours)

about 36 cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips.

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

Turn off the mixer. Pour in the flour, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

GETTING READY TO BAKE: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.
SERVING: The cookies can be eaten when they are warm or at room temperature — I prefer them at room temperature, when the textural difference between the crumbly cookie and the chocolate bits is greatest — and are best suited to cold milk or hot coffee.

STORING: Packed airtight, cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days; they can be frozen for up to 2 months.

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