Flourless Double-Chocolate Pecan Cookies

A friend of mine recently asked if I've tried any gluten-free baking. "No," I quickly replied. It has always been my feeling that good tasting cookies require flour in the same way that sports cars require leather seats. Sure, you could take away the flour or change seat coverings, but why would you want to?

Shortly after that conversation I found a recipe for Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies which required no flour. It was kismet. I had to try the recipe. Much to my surprise the cookies were absolutely delicious. A crispy outside housed a moist and chewy inside bursting with deep chocolate flavor and an ever so faint salty taste. The pecans add some crunch and texture to the cookie. I'm a now on the gluten-free band wagon.

These cookies spread when baking so be sure to leave 3 inches between each when you spoon them onto parchment-lined baking sheets. After you add the egg whites you may think they will never blend into the dry ingredients. They will. Keep stirring.

I experimented with some leftover dough by baking it in a small ramekin. It required about 15 minutes more baking time, but came out looking and tasting great. Topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it's a new take on the molten chocolate cakes that were so popular a few years ago and are still found on many restaurant dessert menus. I sprayed the ramekin with non-stick spray which didn't work. I suggest you serve it in the ramekin and let your guests scoop it out themselves as they devour it and tell you what a great baker you are. Fill the ramekin only two-thirds full to avoid a mess in your oven.

I tried the recipe a second time and added 3/4 cup of mini-marshmallows to the dough. This is a must if you like sweet and gooey cookies.

This recipe is from Everyday Food magazine.

Flourless Double-Chocolate Pecan Cookies

3 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (I use Droste)
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (or walnuts)
4 large egg whites, room temperature

Variation: 3/4 cup mini-marshmallows

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, cocoa, and salt. Sir in the chocolate and pecans. Add egg whites and stir just until incorporated. Do not overmix. Add mini-marshmallows if using.

Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls, 3 inches apart, onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookie tops are dry and cracked slightly, about 25 minutes. Rotate sheets halfway through baking time. Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cookies cool completely. Cookies keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container. Makes approximately 12 cookies.

Variation Using 3 Inch Ramekin














Variation With Mini-Marshmallows













Cookie Press Rating: 4 cookies (out of 5)

By the way, I'm still sticking to my belief that sports cars require leather seats and nobody will change my mind about that.

Black Forest Cookies

My favorite cake is Black Forest. Wait! This is a cookie blog. Why on earth would I be writing about cake? Well, I love chocolate and cherries together so I decided to try a recipe I found in an old issue of Martha's Everyday Food for Black Forest Cookies. The recipe was very easy to follow. The only ingredient I didn't have on hand was the 1 1/2 cups of dried cherries which I picked up at the grocery store in the bulk items area. I find it strange that in today's high tech world that I still have to write the code for the cherries (407) on a round stickie label and affix it to the outside of the bag. Can't the grocery store manager invest in a scale which prints out bar codes? I digress. Back to the cookies.

There are three kinds of chocolate in the cookies which make them oh so delicious. Two tablespoons of cocoa powder. I used Hershey's which never disappoints. Next up was the 8 ounces of bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate. I used Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chips (melted) which I think really make this cookie special. When I'm melting chocolate in a recipe, I generally use chips since they melt quickly and are usually cheaper than if I had bought the same amount of chocolate in bar form. We are in a recession and I'm on a budget. Finally, 12 ounces of chocolate chunks finished off the chocolate triple play. I used Hershey's semisweet chunks which worked well with the melted bittersweet chocolate.

Another thing I really liked about this recipe is that I didn't need to pull out and dirty my Kitchen Aid mixer. All of the ingredients mixed nicely in the double boiler I used to melt the chocolate and butter. The cookies baked nicely, but it was difficult to tell if they were actually browning or still in need of another minute or two in the oven. Let them cool on the sheets for at least two minutes before moving them to cooling racks since they will be brittle.

The result was chocolate perfection! Soft, luscious, and super chocolaty. The cherries provide a wonderful contrast to the rich chocolate. You could probably use dried cranberries instead, however, I recommend you stick to the recipe and use cherries. Next time, I may try to incorporate marshmallows into the batter or spoon a dab of marshmallow fluff on the top of each just before baking.

I took some into work and shared them with two of my co-workers, Sheryl and Marissa. We share an office so it's not hard to notice when either (or both, in this case) are having a bad day. I took out the cookies, shared them and immediately the tense feeling lifted like a plane rising above the clouds into a sunny sky. The cookies were deemed the "ultimate PMS solution". Watch out Pamprin, there's a new kid in town.

Happy baking!