World Peace Cookies

Buttery, chocolate-y, salty cookies.  Called World Peace Cookies because a daily dose of these cookies “is all that is needed to ensure planetary peace and happiness.”  Amen to that.  I love the idea of keeping several logs of this dough in the freezer to slice and bake as needed. I think it could be argued that I need to eat them every single day….chasing around a super active 16 month old is lots of work!

World Peace Cookies

from Baking, From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 stick plus 3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup (packed) brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp fleur de sel or 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.  Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy.  Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

Turn off the mixer.  Pour in the dry ingredients, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time.  Take a peek-if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel.  Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough-for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly.  Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half.  Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter.  Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours.  (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.  If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking-just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

Center rack in the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.  Using a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick.  (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them-don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.)  Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes-they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be.  Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.

Makes about 36 cookies.