Mudslide Cookies

This recipe is from The Culinary Institute of America's cookbook, "Baking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America," scheduled for publication in October.
Gary/Louisville

Mudslide Cookies

Makes 24 large cookies

Flourless cooking spray for greasing

æ cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon powdered instant coffee

1 tablespoon boiling water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

7 large eggs

2æ cups sugar

2 cups chopped walnuts

1½ cups bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray cookie sheets with cooking spray or line them with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside. Combine the instant coffee and boiling water to make a paste. Blend in the vanilla extract.

Melt the chopped unsweetened chocolate, chopped bittersweet chocolate and the butter in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave in 15- to 20-second intervals. Gently stir to blend.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together the eggs, sugar and coffee paste mixture on high speed until light in texture and thick, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the chocolate mixture with the machine running on medium speed. On low speed, mix in the dry ingredients until just blended. Mix in the walnuts and chocolate chips until blended. Scrape down the bowl as needed during mixing to blend evenly.

Using a ¼-cup measure as a scoop, fill it with dough, level it, and drop the dough onto a prepared cookie sheet, leaving 3 to 4 inches between the cookies. In batches, bake until the cookies are cracked on top but still slightly moist, rotating the pans as necessary to bake evenly, 14 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the cookie sheet before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely.

Nutrition information per cookie: 350 cal., 7 g pro., 41 g carbo., 21.g fat, 65 mg sodium, 75 mg chol., 2 g fiber.

Hints ---
If you are melting chocolate in the microwave, be aware that chocolate tends to overheat quickly. To avoid overheating, place the chopped chocolate in a nonmetal bowl and set the power to low. Microwave the chocolate in 15- to 20-second intervals until it appears slightly glossy but still holds its shape. Stir the chocolate to evenly distribute the heat. If necessary, continue to melt it in the microwave.

Baking cookies such as Mudslides should be done in batches. The cookie sheet should be at room temperature when portioning batter onto the pan. Otherwise, the cookie dough might start to bake before it goes into the oven, resulting in excess spreading and overbaking.

Most important: Don't overbake Mudslides. They should appear moist when removed from the oven, as they will firm up once removed.