Cookies

Tartine Book No. 3 is devoted primarily to rustic naturally leavened whole grain bread.  It is one of John’s two “bread bibles.”  However, tucked away in the back of the book are a few delightful dessert recipes including these unusual “Salted Chocolate Rye Cookies.”  Rye as a dessert flour doesn’t immediately come to mind, but we were intrigued.  There’s just three words that best describes these cookies.  To die for.  With a pound of chocolate, this recipe produces rich, fudge brownie-like cookies.  To top it off, a sprinkling of flaky sea salt?  A perfect combination.

The recipe calls for Muscovado sugar which I found at Mana Foods.  Muscovado sugar is unrefined which gives this sugar a rich, molasses flavor.  Brown sugar is refined sugar with molasses added to it.  In a pinch, you could substitute brown sugar in the recipe however reading other comments about Muscovado sugar, well it seems its superior flavor makes it a bakers dream come true.  So go ahead and seek it out.  It’s readily available on-line.

For chocolate lovers….

Salted Chocolate Rye Cookies

Tartine Book No. 3

Makes about 4 dozen small cookies

Ingredients

454g (four 4-ounce bars) chopped, bittersweet chocolate (70%)

57g (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter (I used Earth Balance Buttery Sticks, lactose free and reduced the salt to 1/4 teaspoon)

85g (3/4 cup) whole-grain dark rye flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

200g  eggs (4 large) at room temperature

340g (2 cups very tightly packed) Muscovado sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

good quality sea salt such as Maldon or flaky fleur de sel, for topping

Preparation

Note: I strongly recommend weighing your ingredients for this particular recipe for the best results.  The book has an apparent error in the sugar amount.  The gram measurement in the book is correct, however, the cup measurement is incorrect.  It should be 2 very tightly packed cups to more or less equal the gram measurement.

Place a saucepan filled with 1 inch of water over medium heat and bring to a simmer.  Set a heatproof bowl over simmering water (make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water).  Melt together the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally.  Remove bowl from heat and let cool slightly.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

Place the eggs in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whip on medium high-speed, adding the sugar a bit at a time.  Turn the mixer to high and whip until the egg mixture has nearly tripled in volume, about 6 minutes.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the melted chocolate butter mixture and the vanilla.  Mix to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, then mix in the flour mixture just until combined. At this point the dough will be very soft which is normal.  It will firm up as it chills.

Refrigerate the dough in the mixing bowl until it is just firm to the touch, about 30 minutes (the longer you chill the dough, the harder it is to scoop).

Preheat oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator and scoop with a rounded tablespoon onto the baking sheets, spacing the balls of dough about 1 1/2 inches apart.  Top each mound of dough with a few flakes of sea salt, pressing gently so it adheres.  Bake for 8 – 10 minutes until the cookies have completely puffed up and have a smooth bottom and rounded top.

Remove the baking sheets from the oven and let cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack and let cook completely.  The cookies will keep up to 3 days in an airtight container.  They can also be frozen for longer storage.