Chocolate Sparkle Cookies

One of my dedicated blog readers suggested, no insisted, that I try Chocolate Sparkle Cookies as another option to treating the symptoms of PMS (see Black Forest Cookie blog entry to understand the reference to PMS). This is the signature cookie of noted pastry chef Thomas Haas. Haas has worked as the Executive Pastry Chef at the Four Seasons in Vancouver, and as Executive Pastry Chef at Daniel, Boulud's famous eatery in Manhattan. Haas has won tons of accolades over the years so I'm thinking this cookies have to be fantastic.

Chocolate Sparkle Cookies

1/2 lb (8 oz.) bittersweet chocolate
3 T butter, room temp.
2 eggs
1 T honey
1/3 c sugar
3/4 c ground almonds
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1 pinch salt
coarse sugar for garnish

Melt chocolate on top of a double boiler, over simmering water. Make sure water does not come in contact with the chocolate. Even a drop of water will seize the chocolate and you'll have to start over. Cut butter into small pieces and mix into the melted chocolate. Beat eggs with mixer, gradually adding the sugar and honey until light and mixture falls in thick, smooth ribbons from the beater (about 10 minutes). Fold into the chocolate-butter mixture. Add the cocoa powder and salt to the ground almonds and mix. Gently add to the chocolate mixture.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a small ice cream scoop to form the dough into one inch balls. Working quickly, roll the balls in granulated sugar. Place on baking sheet about two inches apart. Bake for about 12 minutes, until the centers are moist, but not wet. Do not overbake. Cookies will be soft in the center. Cool slightly. Dust lightly with coarse sugar.

Cookie Press Review

These cookies did not impress. The texture was very odd. Soft? Yes. Chocolaty? You betcha. Sweet? No doubt. But I really couldn't get past the texture. Perhaps it was the ground up almonds which provided nice flavor but required some extra chewing and who has time for that? Be sure to have a glass of milk ready to wash 'em down. I also overcooked one batch on purpose to see if that made a difference. It didn't seem to matter all that much. Overcooking just dried them out.

My taste testers agreed and weren't begging for second or third sample as they normally do. A single cookie filled my tasters up.

I'd be interested to hear what you think of think of this cookie. For me, Sparkle Cookies were kind of lackluster.

Cookie Press rating: 2 cookies (out of five)

Reminder: Send me your cookie recipes to try! Email them to me at: tleader(@)nyc(dot)rr(dot)com.