Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Using a Pyrex or other heat-safe bowl, heat the chocolate pieces in a microwave at 30-second intervals until nearly melted. (Go slowly and don’t overdo this because the chocolate keeps melting even after it’s out of the microwave.) Let the chocolate cool while you’re mixing the rest of the dough.
In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, espresso, baking powder, salt).
In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until well blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, add the vanilla and then the cooled chocolate. Gradually add the dry ingredients and the milk and beat with the mixer on low until just combined. Flatten the dough and place it in a plastic bag. Seal well and freeze for an hour.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats. Use a small cookie scoop to scoop out dough and drop each doughball into a bowl of confectioners’ sugar (I used a bread pan—it held a bunch of doughballs). Roll each dough piece into a 1-inch ball and then recoat with the confectioners’ sugar. Let the doughballs sit in the sugar until they are ready to bake.
Place cookies on baking sheets 2 inches apart and bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the cookies have spread a bit and the coating has cracked. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.
Enjoy the chocolatey, melty goodness and think of Rafe and Kaitlyn!!
* Between the cocoa, chocolate, and espresso, this recipe has enough caffeine to start your car, so please be careful with your heart! There is a decaf espresso product you can use if you still like that coffee flavor without the added caffeine! Also, the bittersweet chocolate I used (65% cacao) has more caffeine than Nestle Toll House semisweet morsels (47% cacao).
† I used bittersweet chocolate chips with 65 percent cacao for a richer taste (and because it’s what my grocery store had), but use what you prefer.
‡ This dough is very soft. Before rolling the doughballs, I flattened the dough, I plopped it into a gallon plastic bag, flattened and sealed it, and froze it for an hour. If you do that, I suggest letting the dough sit for 5 to 10 minutes after you take it out of the freezer so you can work with it. (Alternatively, other recipes stated that you can refrigerate the dough anywhere from an hour to overnight.)
** Using a cookie scoop is a great idea because it makes the doughballs uniform. Dropping them immediately into the powdered sugar before rolling them into perfect ball shapes is another great idea or else your hands get coated with sticky brown dough.☺