Clinton Street Brookies

Makes Twenty-four 2½ to 2¾ inch cookies

Oven Temperature: 350°F/175°C

Baking Time: 10 to 12 minutes for each of two batches

Baking Equipment: Two 15 by 12 inch cookie sheets, nonstick, or lined with parchment or nonstick Teflon-type liners

Optional: a 1½ inch diameter cookie scoop

These unusual chocolate cookies, adapted from the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook, are the creation of one of their former pastry chefs, Ernie Rich. They derive their name from the inventive cross between a brownie and a cookie. The crackly brownielike top, delightfully chewy and slightly cakey interior, and sweet, deep chocolate flavor make them one of my top favorite chocolate cookies. They are at their very melty best when still warm, but are still soft and chewy when room temperature.

Makes 564 grams dough

dark chocolate, 60% to 62% cacao, coarsely chopped	227 grams	1⅔ cups (8 ounces), divided (see Baking Pearl)
canola or safflower oil	13 grams	1 tablespoon (15 ml)
unsalted butter	5 grams	1 teaspoon
2 large eggs	100 grams	⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon (94 ml)
bleached all-purpose flour	65 grams	½ cup (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off) plus ½ tablespoon
baking powder	1.1 grams	¼ teaspoon
fine sea salt	.	¼ teaspoon
light Muscovado or dark brown sugar	163 grams	¾ cup, firmly packed
pure vanilla extract	.	¼ teaspoon (1.2 ml)

Preheat the Oven

▪ Twenty minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack at the middle level. Set the oven at 350ºF/175ºC.

Mise en Place

▪ Melt the chocolate: Thirty minutes to 1 hour ahead, melt half of the chocolate: In the top of a double boiler set over hot, not simmering, water (do not let the bottom of the container touch the water), with a silicone spatula, stir together 113 grams/⅓ cup/4 ounces of the chocolate, the oil, and the butter. Heat the mixture, stirring often, until the chocolate is fully melted. Remove it from the heat and let it cool until room temperature.

▪ Into a medium bowl, weigh or measure the eggs.

Make the Dough

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. Add the brown sugar and vanilla to the eggs and whisk until combined. Use the whisk to fold in the melted chocolate mixture.

3. With a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, mix in the flour mixture until evenly combined. Fold in the remaining chopped chocolate.

Chill the Dough

4. Line a shallow pan, such as a quarter sheet pan or pie plate, with plastic wrap and lightly coat it with nonstick cooking spray. Scrape the dough into the pan; the dough will be very soft. Cover it with another coated sheet of plastic wrap and set it in the freezer for about 15 minutes, or until it is firm enough to scoop.

Shape the Dough

5. Scoop out 12 level scoops of dough (23 grams each) and drop them 2 inches apart onto a cookie sheet. You can use a small metal spatula to help the sticky dough release from the scoop. (Alternatively, use 2 teaspoons to drop and mound the dough.) The mounds will be about 1½ inches in diameter. If the kitchen is hot and the dough becomes very soft, return it to the freezer to firm for about 15 minutes.

Bake the Cookies

6. Bake for 5 minutes. For even baking, rotate the cookie sheet halfway around. Continue baking for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the tops are dry and cracked. When pressed lightly on top they should give slightly, and feel firm around the edges but still a little soft all over the top.

7. While the first batch of cookies is baking, shape the dough for the second batch.

Cool the Cookies

8. Set the cookie sheet on a wire rack and let the cookies cool for 3 minutes, until firm enough to transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Use a thin pancake turner to lift the cookies onto another wire rack.

9. Bake and cool the second batch.

Store Airtight: room temperature, 4 days; refrigerated, 1 week; frozen, 2 months.

Baking Pearl

I sometimes like to use a mix of chocolates for this recipe: 60% to 62% cacao for the half of the chocolate that is melted into the dough, and an 85% cacao for the portion of the chopped chocolate that gets mixed into the dough in Step 3, to temper the sweetness of the cookie. The sweeter chocolate in the cookie dough is necessary to form the cracks in the surface.

Making Clinton Street Brookies

Fold the melted chocolate into the egg mixture.

Mix in the flour mixture.

Scoop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheet.

Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.