How ironic that this is the lagniappe blog we had scheduled for this week. Read on:
What an approachable topic: World Peace. And how easy to tie it into food. Right! If you believe that I have another funny story to tell you.
After thinking about our last blog on Jerusalem – and its authors who believe hummus may be a food able to unify diverse groups, I got interested in Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies, formerly known as Sables Korova. I like the idea of world peace. And I like a commenter’s comments found on Greenspan’s blog better than I like the official reason Greenspan changed the name: “The difference in the dough each time you make it is teaching us to be patient and accepting. If we do that, everything turns out right in the end, just as the cookies do.”
World Peace Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 c all purpose flour
- 1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably not Dutch process)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 stick plus 3 T butter at room temperature (11 T total)
- 2/3 c packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 c sugar
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 c mini chocolate chips – definitely “mini” Don’t even think about using regular sized – or you’ll not be a patient, happy person when you see the outcome.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Measure the flour by spooning it into a measuring cup and leveling it with something straight-edged like a spatula.
In a medium bowl, put the flour, cocoa, and baking soda and mix it together well with a whisk.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft, then add the brown sugar, white sugar, salt, and vanilla and beat for 2 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, carefully blend in the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, baking soda.). Then beat again with the mixer for about 30 seconds. You don’t want to overbeat. Add the chocolate chips and mix in well with the spatula.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, gather it together into a ball, and divide it in half. Shape each half into a log, about 1 1/2 ” in diameter. It may be crumbly. Be calm and carry on, pushing the crumbs back into the log as necessary. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours (or freeze them for later). When you’re ready to bake, with a sharp knife (yes!) slice the logs into rounds which are about 1/2″ thick. (Note: this is where my patience was tried. The chocolate chips seemed to make the cutting difficult and I had lots of pieces of dough everywhere, rather than nice round slices. As Greenspan suggested, I just gathered up the pieces and squeezed them back into something resembling a cookie. I was at peace.)
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Arrange the cookies so there is about 1″ between them. If you want to bake the whole batch of cookies at once, use two baking sheets.
Bake the cookies for 12 minutes (or 13 if your cookies were and still are frozen). Put the baking sheet on a cooling rack and let the cookies cool until lukewarm before removing them.
I will definitely try these! Thanks!
Just be patient when you try to cut them, Tricia! 🙂 The result is worth the deep-breathing.
I had good luck slicing the chilled logs with a serrated bread knife — no crumbling at all! And, boy, are they GOOD!
Great suggestion, Tricia! Happy you liked them as much as we do.