The first of many, many cookie recipies

In a perfect world I would be eating a cookie a day, especially since our day's here on this earth are numbered, and by virtue of that fact, so are our opportunities to eat cookies. Cookies have this strange ability to be so simple, just little round unassuming treats, and at the same time they manage to make everything better. Seriously everything. I had a roommate once that had a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. If I knew she was running late I would pop into the room and try to get her up and it was almost impossible. That is unless there were cookies in the apartment. If there were all I had to do was remind her of that fact and she would get up, shuffle to the kitchen, grab a cookie and then sit and chew in silence. Somehow, the fact that cookies were in the world, and specifically in our apartment, made life worth getting up for. I can relate to that feeling.

Because I attribute cookies with a sort of mystical power to right all wrongs and fix all problems, it is surprising to me that I have yet to feature a recipe here. If there was ever one worth being the first, it is this double chocolate cookie that my Mom found in the most recent Everyday Food magazine. We stuck fairly close to the recipe on this one, but substituted white chocolate chips for the 6 oz of chopped bittersweet chocolate. We thought that the white chocolate would be Christmasy with the cranberries, and it turned out really well. I am sure that the bittersweet would be good also.





A note of caution: These cookies are a rare breed. They are not very good straight out of the oven. If you have the willpower let them cool down, or even (I know, this is a lot to ask) wait for the next day to eat them. They don't come into thier full chewy, brownie like glory until they have had time to rest a bit. If need be, go ahead and eat one right away, just know that it is only a mere glimpse at how good they will be later.

Double-Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Adapted from Everyday Cooking

• 10 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped


• 1 cup all-purpose flour


• 3 tbl. unsweetened cocoa powder


• 1 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt


• 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened


• 3/4 cup granulated sugar


• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar


• 2 large eggs


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 6 oz white chocolate chips (or really any kind of chocolate you want)


• 1/2 cup dried cranberries


• 1/2 cup walnuts coarsely chopped
  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate in either a double boiler, or in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan with simmering water. Make sure to stir the chocolate regularly. Once the chocolate is melted set it aside.

In another bowl combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Whisk them together.

In a large bowl beat the butter and sugars together, then add the eggs and vanilla. Once everything is combined beat in the melted chocolate.

Slowly add the flour mixture, beating as you go.

Fold in the chocolate, cranberries and walnuts.

Drop the dough onto the parchment lined baking sheets, a heaping tablespoon full for each cookie. Bake the cookies until they are dry around the edges and have cracks on the top. It should be about 13 minutes per batch.

Remove from the oven, allowing to cool for three minutes on the cookie sheet and then transferring them to cooling racks.