formula for excess
Oatmeal cookies that are elegant and beam with bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks and bumps of bittersweet chocolate are at once textural and full of flavor. If oatmeal cookies can be described as supercharged, then a batch made from the sweet-surplus-of-chocolate cookies recipe would measure up to that description.
A bolt of bittersweet chocolate—a highly noticeable twelve ounces—becomes a galvanizing addition to a simplistic butter dough built on the customary baking staples that include a nuance of leavening, all-purpose flour, two types of sugar (granulated and light brown), two egg yolks, and a slurp of vanilla extract. One-quarter teaspoon of salt is the cunning factor in the recipe, for it is the salt that unites the rustically styled oats with the regal chocolate.
A distinguishing characteristic of the recipe is that the formed mounds bake at a lower temperature, comparatively speaking, than do other oatmeal cookie doughs. At 325 degrees F, the cookies set into gentle tenderness and retain a certain amount of moisture, resulting in a sweet that is softly chewy. The baked cookies settle into a relaxed richness on the sheets.
In this cookie, you have your all-inclusive, not-to-be-spared amount of per diem chocolate in a down-to-earth setting of burly, but kindly, rolled oats. Even though I think nuts would get in the way of all this lusciousness, a walnut- or pecan-laden variation also follows, breaking the boundaries with a crunchy texture.
sweet-surplus-of-chocolate cookies
serving: about 21 cookies
ahead: best on baking day; refrigerate cookie dough for 2 days or freeze for 1 month
bittersweet chocolate and oatmeal butter dough
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unsifted bleached all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
21/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons “quick-cooking” (not instant) rolled oats
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips, bittersweet chocolate chunks, or bittersweet bar chocolate, hand-cut into small chunks (see notes)
2/3 cup firmly packed sweetened flaked coconut
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Line two heavy cookie sheets or rimmed sheet pans with lengths of ovenproof parchment paper.
For the dough, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.
Cream the butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the light brown sugar and beat on moderate speed for 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and beat for 1 minute longer. Add the egg yolks, beating on low speed until just incorporated. Blend in the vanilla extract. On low speed, blend in the sifted ingredients, beating just until the flour particles are absorbed. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl frequently with a rubber spatula to keep the dough even-textured. Blend in the rolled oats. Work in the chocolate chips or chunks and coconut.
Place level 3-tablespoon-size mounds of dough onto the prepared baking pans, spacing the mounds about 3 inches apart and arranging 9 mounds on each standard-size sheet. Keep the mounds of dough chunky, with craggy edges.
Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 16 to 17 minutes, or until just set. The edges of the baked cookies will be a little darker than the centers; the tops will no longer look shiny. Let the cookies stand on the baking pans for 1 minute, then transfer them to cooling racks, using a wide offset metal spatula. Cool completely. Store in an airtight tin.
• in place of the sweetened flaked coconut, nuts can be added to the cookie dough along with the chips or chunks of bittersweet chocolate; use 3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (or 1 cup halves and pieces)
• of the many choices for the chocolate quotient in this cookie dough, consider Ghirardelli 60% cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips (available in 11.5-ounce bags) or Scharffen Berger Bittersweet Baking Chunks (“Fine Artisan Dark Chocolate,” 70% cacao, available in 6-ounce bags); and for bar chocolate to be hand-cut into chunks, choose from Valrhona Extra Amer Bittersweet 61% cacao, Valrhona Caraïbe Dark Chocolate 66% cacao, El Rey Bucare Bittersweet Chocolate (Carenero Superior) 58.5% cacao, Lindt Chocolate Créé à Berne Swiss Bittersweet Chocolate, Lindt Excellence Swiss Bittersweet Chocolate, or Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa Extra Fine Dark Chocolate
• when preparing cookie dough for refrigeration or freezing, use organic eggs only
• never consume raw cookie dough
sweet-surplus-of-chocolate cookies