Todd’s office is in the Omni Hotel, which as you might guess, is decked out for Christmas. Last night, he informed me that the hotel is having a holiday cookie contest for people who work in the building. The cookies are to be prepared at home and turned into the Omni office on December 12, at which point they will be judged by Omni staff. The prize is a night at the Omni. Not too shabby, eh?

I’m on the fence about this. On one hand, I really want to participate because I love both cookies and nights at The Omni. On the other, I don’t know if I have the time to obsess over which cookie will be the best. Without knowing what they are looking for, it’s really hard to choose. Are they judging on looks? Taste? Holiday appeal? Todd’s advice was to just calm down and have fun.

So fun it is. By Tuesday, I’ll figure out what to enter. These perhaps? No, not holidayish enough.

This recipe from Martha Stewart. I made a few minor changes such as using the microwaving, subbing cherry flavored cranberries instead of dried cherries and using Ghirardelli bittersweet chips instead of chocolate chunks, but the gist of the cookie is the same. They are very good – not quite as *black forest* as I expected, but tasty as far as fat chocolate cookies go.

Black Forest Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate – I used 8 oz bittersweet chips
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 oz chocolate chunks or chopped up high quality dark chocolate
1 1/2 cups dried cherries or cherry flavored cranberries (if you have some, soak them in liquor!)

In a medium bowl, sift or whisk ( I prefer sifting because of all the baking powder) together flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Whisk in salt; set aside.

In a microwave-safe bowl, stir together chopped chocolate and butter. Microwave on high for 30 seconds; Stir well. Repeat until mixture is melted and smooth. Stir in both sugars. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir. Let cool for about 5 minutes, then beat in eggs and vanilla.

Add dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Allow dough to cool for a few minutes if it is still warm, then stir in chocolate and dried cherries. Press plastic wrap onto surface of dough, and refrigerate until firm, 30 – 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper

Using a tablespoon, scoop dough up out of bowl and shape into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place 2 inches apart, onto prepared sheets. Bake just until edges are firm, 10 – 13 minutes (depends on how big you make them). Cool on baking sheets 1 – 2 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Martha bakes hers for 11-13 minutes, but I would err on the side of underbaking, so check early.

I’ll have to get back to you on the yield because I haven’t baked up all the dough.

Tags:

This entry was posted by Anna on Friday, December 8th, 2006 at 5:40 pm and is filed under Chocolate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.