When cookies are too sweet

We had cocoa from the eggless chocolate cake recipe and pistachios from the pistachio souffle recipe on hand. Also just a couple of weeks back had sat down with a glass of milk and taken a bite of store bought double chocolate cookie and to my dismay it was far too sweet and far too stiff! This meant we needed to take matters in our own hand. As always we flirted with danger. Once again we skipped egg yolks from a tried and tested recipe and reduced the sugar (while also using a dark and complex one) and increased the amount of cocoa. The result was a enticingly dark, buttery cookie with the heady scent of cacao that was soft to the bite and crumbled away in the mouth like a shortbread or nankhatai.

Other than using very good quality unsweetened dark cocoa/cacao powder we also found that the dark muscovado sugar lends very complex flavors to the sweetness. The dark color they bring to our cookies is a bonus guest we welcome to our party!

Sweetness and Warmth of Ceylon cinnamon

We used some powdered ceylon cinnamon. If you have never done this, compare the aroma of vietnamese cinnamon or cassia bark powder (many times sold as cinnamon). The ceylon one speaks of sweetness while the others have comparatively spicy savory notes. Mind you the ceylon cinnamon leaves an after-warmth that speaks of spiciness. All of these are really great as just before spring and towards the end of march the cold weather rears its last resistance in wisconsin.

When cookies are too hard

We also made a conscious decision to use cake flour. It basically is a low protein flour which inhibits formation of gluten while making cookie dough. It means delicate crumbly cookies but also means they would not be rugged for dunking or likely break in tins during transport. We wanted to enjoy soft delicate crumbly cookies hence also do not bake them to hardness while baking. We also leave the crumb a bit moist in our baking.

Cocoa and Pistachio Cookies

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• Total Time: 35 mins
• Yield: 10 to 15 cookies 1x

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Ingredients

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• 110 gm unsalted butter softened at room temperature
• 50 gm muscovado sugar (substitute with regular sugar)
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 125 gm cake flour (substitute with all purpose flour sifted with 1 tsp corn flour or arrowroot starch and half teaspoon baking powder)
• 25 gm 100% cacao powder unsweetened (we recommend Valrhona but feel free to use whats available)
• 0.5 tsp ceylon cinnamon powder (substitute with one tea spoon vanilla paste else skip)
• 30 gm peeled pistachios (bring water to a boil, add pistachios, boil 1 to 2 minutes and skins will be coming off or ready to come off – strain out and rub gently in a towel till peeled, then dry them with the towel)

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Instructions

1. Add the softened butter, sugar and salt to a bowl and mix then beat with a rubber spatula to cream the mixture.
2. Add the flour, cacao powder and ceylon cinnamon powder and mix together gently till combined (do not knead)
3. Add pistachios and fold them in
4. Bring dough together and on a dusted board roll out using two hands gently in a log
5. Refrigerate the log for 15 to 30 minutes
6. Meanwhile pre-heat oven to 350F
7. Line cookie pans or baking sheets with baking paper
8. Remove the log and cut out approximately 5 to 7 mm thick discs
9. Gently round off the edges (the bottom side could go a bit flat while cutting) and add to the pan spaced 1 inch apart
10. Bake for 10 minutes making sure to rotate pan at 6 minutes
11. Remove pan – cookies will look soft and slightly risen near the centre, do not disturb them and let them settle down and cool in the pan for 3 to 5 minutes
12. Transfer using flat offset spatula to a wire rack and let them cool completely. The flavors will intensify as they cool and so will their structure, they will go from fragile to done without ending up being too stiff
13. Enjoy with your coffee or a glass of milk, but remember these are not the dunking kind as they are made to be very delicate

• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins