Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Chunkers Recipe & Cookiebar 2011


Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Chunker's cookies have a knack for getting people into trouble. These cookies were inspired by a recipe that got Dorie fired from one of her first jobs out of pastry. You can read the story here. These are also the cookies that got me into a whole heap of trouble a couple of months ago when my doctor gave me a good chastising for gaining too much weight. Admittedly these cookies weren't the only culprits, between this, El's chocolate ganache cupcakes and flourless chocolate cakes, the scale was tilted towards trouble.


What makes these cookies so irresistible? Try four different Valrhona chocolates. The fact that the recipe calls for a mere 1/3 cup of flour to over a pound of chocolate! Add in the nuts and dried fruit and you have a cookie that is composed of almost entirely goodies and a mere smidge of dough. They truly are cookies like no other. And best of all they freeze fabulously for whenever that emergency chocolate cravings strike.

Dorie Greenspan's Cookie Bar 2011

These cookies do rely on high quality chocolate --it was the first thing I noticed when I took a bite into the Chocolate Chunkers made by Dorie Greenspan and her crew during Cookie Bar 2011. I made sure to try one of everything she had on display, and the Chocolate Chunkers were a decisive favorite.

Central Park, Spring 2011

Chocolate Chunkers
From Baking From My Home to Yours
Ingredients
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces
  • 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 cup store-bought chocolate chips or chunks
  • 6 ounces premium-quality milk or white chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 cup store-bought chocolate chips (Dorie uses soft and silky Jivara milk chocolate)
  • 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped nuts, preferably salted peanuts or toasted pecans, or even salted cashews
  • 1 cup moist, plump raisins or finely chopped moist, plump dried apricots
Method
  1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
  2. Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder. 
  3. Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Add the butter, bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate and heat, stirring occasionally, just until melted -- the chocolate and butter should be smooth and shiny but not so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the heat and set it on the counter to cool.
  4. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until they are pale and foamy. Beat in the vanilla extract, then scrape down the bowl. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the melted butter and chocolate, mixing only until incorporated. With a rubber spatula, scrape down the bowl, then, on low speed, add the dry ingredients. Mix just until the dry ingredients disappear into the dough, which will be thick, smooth and shiny. Scrape down the bowl and, using the rubber spatula, mix in the semisweet and milk (or white) chocolate chunks, nuts and raisins -- you'll have more crunchies than dough at this point.
  5. Drop the dough by generously heaping tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving about an inch of space between the mounds of dough.
  6. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes. The tops of the cookies will look a little dry but the interiors should still be soft. Remove the baking sheet and carefully, using a broad metal spatula, lift the cookies onto a cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
  7. Repeat with the remaining dough, baking only one sheet of cookies at a time and making sure to cool the baking sheets between batches.
  8. If, when the cookies are cooled, the chocolate is still gooey and you'd like it to be a bit firmer, just pop the cookies into the fridge for about 10 minutes. 
Makes 40-50 cookies. These cookies store very well in the freezer.

33 comments:

  1. Holy moly, that is serious chocolate! I don't often crave sweets, but when I do it's usually chocolate-centric. This is a good recipe to keep in mind :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. These look simply amazing. And I agree...quality chocolate makes all the difference. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aaah Christine, these look amazing, what wonderful chocolate!!
    huggs, gloria

    ReplyDelete
  4. The cookies sound wonderful! And I can totally see how they could get pretty much anyone in a whole lot of trouble... :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dorie is amazing - a super nice person, who knows what it takes to make a fantastic cookie!

    ReplyDelete
  6. It snowed today and I was in danger of decimating the chocolate population of MN. If I had seen that recipe earlier - it would be in my tummy now. That said, these will be coming to my tummy (and others) sometime soon.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That last photo just made me homesick home!!! Did someone say it snowed?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love those cookies! I made them a while back and the texture and flavor is just amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Can't wait to try this, Christine! This looks fabulous! Please say hello to Baby Fresh for me! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Four types of chocolate?! Wow, these sound amazing. They will be at the top of my list when the next chocolate craving hits and I feel one comin'!

    ReplyDelete
  11. those sound and look ah-mazing. I'll have to bookmark this for a day when I'm feeling adventurous. Although who knows where I'd find all those chocolates! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I really wanted to go to Dorie's Cookiebar while it was here, but school got in the way of my life. :P These cookies sound fabulous and with all that delicious chocolate, I could see how these might be troublesome!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I would not be safe around these cookies. Really great chocolate makes such a difference.
    Sam

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh that's a lot of chocolate!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Over-the-top is how I would describe this cookie!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh no! I hope my 40 lb chocolate delivery didn't get you in trouble! LOL. The cookies look great. Anything chocolate works for me....but, you know that already ;>) Hope you're feeling well.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow! A pound of chocolate? These sound like seriously good cookies!

    ReplyDelete
  18. They sound incredible! I've got to try them out.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Oooh, I like these cookies indeed!!!
    *kisses* HH

    ReplyDelete
  20. You get the most amazing photos...lovely wonderful chocolate - love it!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Holy banana... those look insane. As I am bereft that WF has run out of my favorite truffles months ago (they were only instock for a month, for goodness sake) I need any chocolate fix I can get.... love the idea of something that I can pop out of the freezer when I need a fix without hacking into a cake... lovely recipe with all that chocolate... can't wait to try.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Lucky you--Central Park in spring and Cookie Bar!! You had me at the shaved chocolate photo--and I don't have to answer to my ob/gyn!! Hope all is going well.

    Best,
    Bonnie

    ReplyDelete
  23. Wow--that is a lot of chocolate--I think I gained 5 lbs reading the post! They look incredible. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  24. These cookies do sound like trouble - but my kind of trouble :) They sound wonderful just like most of Dorie's recipes.

    Loved reading the story behind them.

    ReplyDelete
  25. This looks great! Isn't this the best time to eat :P

    ReplyDelete
  26. Oh My Gosh Christine! Those look completely decadent and delicious. (Love your photos, too!) xo

    ReplyDelete
  27. Dorie's story is a good one, and these chocolate chunkers are even better!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Love them! I get into trouble with these kinds of treats too :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. That chocolate bar is so mouth watering! I’m indefinitely in love with that photo. LOL. I can’t wait to share this with my friends that are addicted with chocolate foods.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Wow these sound decadent! I think I'm saving this for when I'm REALLY in need of chocolate.

    ReplyDelete
  31. My kids ask for more when I try making your chocolate chunkers. They actually want to try to make it for themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Dorie has many really great recipes and yours looks yummy. I am sure the people at the hospital are going to love them. You are a considerate person and it shines through.

    ReplyDelete