1 cup sugar
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp raspberry extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets.
With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars together at medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs, raspberry extract and vanilla, beating well.
In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, and baking powder; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Stir in baking pieces. Drop cookies by tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 12 to 14 minutes.
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Ok, first off is the disclaimer: this recipe isn't terribly thrilling. The cookies aren't bad by any stretch, just not so great. The texture wasn't what I had been led to believe it would be and they weren't really chocolatey enough for my tastes. They didn't spread at all, so they were kind of dense and they weren't chewy like they were said to be. I got the recipe from Paula Deen, removed the chocolate chips and added raspberry extract. The flavor was all right (although it could use more chocolate and... something. I probably should have put some chips in.), but the texture was rather lacking and they didn't look anything like the pictures on Food Networks website (even taking into account the lack of chips). I don't know what went wrong, maybe someone can tell me. One odd thing was the recipe didn't call for salt. I was thinking that could have been the flavor problem, but I used salted butter, so there was some salt in there. Anyway, here it is.
I did them up just like normal, butter and sugars,
creamed. 
Vanilla 
and raspberry extract,
then eggs. 
Well, just the one since I halved the recipe. Mixed that together. 
I added the dry ingredients. 
Now I didn't mix them together ahead of time, but I almost never do and it's never made a big difference before. I did mix them together after dumping them all in... 
that should count, right? Right. Ok. Mixed that up. 
This is some seriously stiff dough here. Feels like a fudgey butter cream frosting. 
You know, the kind you can't spread so you have to press pieces of it to the cake? Like that. So then I dropped tablespoons of it onto a parchment lined baking sheet 
and baked them up. They barely even changed shape. They still had the finger dent from when I popped them out of the tablespoon. 
On the plus side, this one looks like the Millennium Falcon. 
Good thing I only made a half batch. Which I ate all of. Heh. So what happened? Why didn't they spread? Why aren't they chewy? WTF?
Well... they look good!
ReplyDeleteI've always heard that 'halving' a recipe doesn't always work by simply dividing all measurements in two. Perhaps decreasing the flour by a little bit more than a half would eliminate the density. Or better yet, make the whole recipe and put half the dough in the freezer for later baking!
ReplyDeleteDid you eat the Millenium Falcon? That might have fetched a pretty penny on Ebay!
Mmmm, wonder why they didn't spread. Looks like you did everything right. Maybe it was a measurement thing once the recipe was halved...
ReplyDeleteLooks great - yes, even the Millennium Falcon!
ReplyDeleteSpryte: Heh, thanks. They weren't bad, just not very exciting.
ReplyDeleteTangled Noodle: I've never had trouble with halving before, but that might be the issue. Yeah, I ate the Falcon. I didn't even think of selling it on Ebay.
Duo: I wonder too!
David: Thanks! :)
I have a problem with cookies not spreading. I've often wondered if it's my pan as it happens with all recipes. I've just learned to smoosh them down a little before popping them in the oven.
ReplyDeleteAs for you turning French, French men are equally sexy. I think it has something to do with the accent. :)
Joie: I almost never have a problem with them spreading myself, which is why I find it so odd.
ReplyDeleteHeh, you don't want to hear me fake a French accent. My girlfriends mother is French and I gave up trying it years ago after being roundly taunted. :)
they didn't spread because you used half the recipe AND something with dutch=process cocoa, the acid reacts with baking powder, so you didn't add enough to stimulate it to work over the acid. I know I'm going off on a tangent here. But I think you needed to add more baking powder...
ReplyDeleteAll I really wanted to say was "this looks good, no wonder you ate them all!" LOL whew!
I tried to find out why they didn't spread. I came up with whole bunch of different reasons. Not enough sugar, liquid, leavening or butter. Heat too high or heat too low. I'm glad they came out well enough for you to eat them. You crack me up with the Millenium Falcon, your so funny!
ReplyDeleteHa! It does look like the millenium falcon but it also looks like something else. I won't say it out loud:)
ReplyDelete