Chocolate Tuiles

This week I decided to try a new type of cookie that I have never done before. Feeling adventurous, I headed to the kitchen and prepped the ingredients to make tuiles. For all you non-Francophiles, tuiles is pronounced "tweel." If you've never had a tuiles, you're in for a treat. These ultra-thin cookies are crispy and packed with flavor. After you eat a few you almost forget they are cookies. I started thinking they were potato chips. Traditionally the edges turn up slightly (much like the nose of a Frenchman as he gently sniffs the aroma of a fine wine). Luckily the curled edges aren't essential to the taste because I failed miserably when I tried to curl the piping hot cookies without burning my fingers. After a few tries I just gave up. However, I did manage 1 or 2 that looked decent. Oh, and don't try to underbake them thinking that would make them easier to roll. It doesn't and you just end up with a mess and a greater sense of frustration and failure.

There are many great variations on tuiles in a book called Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your Mouth Cookies.

Cocoa Tuiles

4 tablespoons butter, melted and still very warm, plus extra for greasing pan liners
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup natural cocoa powder (Hershey's will work perfectly)
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven or in the middle if you plan to bake only one tray at a time.

Line baking sheets with heavy duty foil, dull side up

Whisk together melted butter, sugar, cocoa and salt. Whisk in egg whites. Add flour and whisk only until combined. Let rest 10 minutes or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Drop level teaspoonfuls of batter about 3 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Using a small offset spatula or back of a spoon, spread the batter evenly into 3 inch rounds, about 1/16 inch thick.

Bake, watching carefully for 10 - 12 minutes, until the edges are slightly darker than the rest of the cookie. If baking 2 pans, rotate from top to bottom and front to back midway through baking time. It's important to bake cookies thoroughly or they will not be crispy when cooled.

Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 month but I can assure you they will last only a few days at the very most.

If you're interested in learning how to shape the cookies, you may want pick up the book I mentioned above by author Alice Medrich.

As cookies came out of the oven I sprinkled them with sea salt which was just enough to give them a wonderful salty/sweet taste.

I would love to hear from you about your attempts to curl the edges. Let me know if you were successful.

Cookie Press Rating: 3.5 (out of 5)