SHF #29 -- Raw Chocolate

Nibbles and Bits

I have several old, tattered folders filled with hundreds of recipes. A whole corner of my room is dedicated to plastic filing cabinets crammed with pages torn from magazines and newspapers, photocopies from borrowed cookbooks and printouts from websites collected over the years. Every time another recipe finds its home in one of these folders, I promise myself that I will attempt this one – my recipe to-do list grows every day. But somehow, I never manage to actually root through these recipes when I want to bake.

I bake every day. At work. But if I bake at home, it’s not usually a premeditated attempt for which I have to search for recipes, but on a whim with something I either came across on a website or cookbook I read that day or something simple that needs not a recipe. I don’t have the means or the kitchen to produce something of restaurant quality at home, so I love an excuse to bake something simple. Even more so, I love an excuse to bake simple cookies.

And there are some moments when nothing but cookies will do.

No matter how many recipes I add to my folders, there’s one that will forever remain embedded in my head…the chocolate chip cookie.

And, when Emily of Chocolate in Context announced that she would be hosting this month’s Sugar High Friday, an event so masterfully created by Jennifer The Domestic Goddess, and that the theme is Raw Chocolate, I knew my entry.

Cookies.

Chocolate chip cookies.

But not any old cookie. One studded with cocoa nibs and flavored with espresso.

It’d been a difficult day, and I had an intense craving for a chocolate chip cookie and a cup of warm coffee. I’ve mentioned previously that peanut butter is my vice; well, coffee is my other love. (The nutty, roasted scent of freshly ground coffee is spellbinding…one whiff and I’m lured into its sweet embrace.) Chocolate and coffee go together like peanut butter and jelly – a combination sure to make me swoon – and they combine into one sensational cookie.

And so I gathered my ingredients and began creaming and mixing. A quick scan through my cluttered cabinets revealed some untouched cocoa nibs I had purchased a few months back but never used. The cookies, I decided, should have some crunch to their tenderness, but not necessarily from nuts, so I tossed some of the aromatic nuggets into the batter.

The cookies were intensely satisfying. One of the best features is the sandy rubble created by the cocoa nibs. The nutty and chocolaty flavors in the nibs infuse the cookie richly, and the flavor of ground espresso beans is subtle, giving a deeper note. Meltingly soft and tender, subtly sweet yet unabashedly buttery, they’re also caramelized with crisp edges, chewy and chunky in all the right places. Such a bittersweet life.

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Chocolate chip cookies are a chinch to make – perfect for an after school snack, a bake sale, an I feel like crap and need sugar day, a travel companion, a quick dessert, a heaping plate to welcome guests….. They can be plain, containing only the requisite chocolate chips, or adventurously chock full of a plethora of ingredients. Never your average person, I like to experiment with different ingredients (I’ll give you a hint right now that, as tempting as it sounds, cayenne pepper added to the batter does NOT make a delicious and surprising cookie – just trust me and DO NOT DO IT!). But chocolate and coffee…mmmmmmm. Just a little tip – I always refrigerate or freeze the dough for a bit after scooping. The cookies spread less and their shapes keep more uniform when baking. Another note to consider and set your expectations aside – cocoa nibs do not act like chocolate chips, as they are not sweet, but bitter and crunchy and don’t melt.

Undeniably Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon espresso powder
10 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks
2/3 cup cocoa nibs


Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugars on low speed until it is smooth and lump free, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla and beat on low speed until fully incorporated, for about 15 seconds. Do not overbeat or the cookies will spread when baking.
Add the flour, baking soda, salt and espresso powder and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the chocolate chips and cocoa nibs and mix until they are just incorporated. Refrigerate dough for at least an hour.Preheat oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or non-stick Silpats. Using a cookie scooper, scoop the dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until golden brown around the edges, rotating the baking sheets halfway through.Transfer the cookies on a cooling rack to cool. Enjoy!

cookies i sent to a friend who was having an equally torrid day

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Nibby Notes

Cacao Nibs, perfectly roasted cocoa beans separated from their husks and broken into tiny bits, are the purest, most elemental form of chocolate. Not yet crushed, ground, or processed into more refined forms, they are the essence of chocolate.

Nibs add crunchiness and subtle chocolate flavor to baked goods and savory dishes. They’re slightly bitter, with an intense flavor that can vary greatly depending on their origin. They make a great substitute for roasted nuts or chocolate chips, without added sweetness

I really think that this description, found on the Scharffen Berger website, truly gives justice to these precious nuggets:

Hold a handful of nibs and inhale the aroma. Notice the color variations, like earth-toned confetti. Pick out and taste the different colors. (Nibs are, appealingly, even more crunchy than toasted nuts but they are unsweetened and relatively bitter so they may take some getting used to.) You will discover a sweetness and fruitiness in some nibs; others will be nuttier; some will be quite astringent; some will be tart. If you concentrate, you will notice more flavors than you ever imagined were in chocolate, such as banana, peanuts, pineapple, lemon peel, cherries and coffee.

Usually, when you taste a piece of chocolate, you are tasting a blend of
cocoa beans, possibly different varieties from different parts of the world.
When you taste a variety of cocoa nibs, you are tasting each individual
component of a blend: chocolate deconstructed.

A few sweet and savory ideas:

*Grind some nibs with coffee beans before making coffee
*Sprinkle nibs, as you would toasted nuts, on a simple salad of field greens
dressed with good olive oil and red wine vinegar
*Add nibs to Bolognese sauce
*Make your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe but omit the chocolate
chips. Add 2/3 cup of coarsely chopped nibs and 1 cup each currants (or raisins)
and walnuts. Make the cookies small and dainty.
*Sprinkle nibs on bread and butter; sprinkle with sugar if desired.
*Sprinkle nibs over ice cream

See more of the Pastry Princess' dessert recipes!

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