Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Triple Threat Chocolate Cookies



Okay so taking dessert to your dentist probably seems like a strange thing to do.
Today I have to go back to the dentist to get my crown finished. Not an event I particularly look forward too, but I do have a really nice dentist. At every visit the conversation turns to food within a few minutes of my sitting in the chair. As much of a conversation as you can have with some one's hand in your mouth!
At my last cleaning, mouth open and much scraping going on, my hygienist starts asking me about cooking and what I like to cook. I try to answer her using mostly grunts. Our conversation went something like this:
Hygienist: "Do you ever watch the Food Network?"
Me: "Uh huh"
Her: "I just love that lady , you know the Southern one. What's her name?"
Me: Aula Een?
Her: "Yeah I just love Paula Deen. She's so funny. Do you ever watch her show?"
Me: "Om imes"
Her: "All her food looks so good. Have you ever made any of her recipes?"
Me "ess"
Amazingly it seems she can decipher this strange language.
When the dentist comes in to check on me, he asks, "So what'd you bring us to eat?"
So how do you answer that? The next time I see this person, he'll be drilling on my tooth!
I find myself promising to bring him some goodies on my next visit. Hey, I'm not above bribery. I'll bring you goodies, you give me happy gas! Besides dentists have lots of toothbrushes on hand.

I chose to make the Pastry Queens "Triple Threat Chocolate Cookies" for my bribery. These cookies are seriously chocolate. They're are almost flourless, just 1/3 cup of flour to about a pound of chocolate! Soft, densely chocolate, ...sublime!

Triple-Threat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Source: The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather

1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chopped walnuts
6 TBSP unsalted butter
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 TBSP vanilla extract
1/3 cup all purpose flour
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ cups semisweet or milk chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350F. Arrange the pecans and walnuts on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast for 7 to 9 minutes until golden brown. Cool the nuts completely.
Grease baking pan generously with butter or cooking spray.
Melt the butter, bittersweet chocolate, and unsweetened chocolate in a small saucepan set over low heat. Stir occasionally, watching carefully to make sure the chocolate does not burn. Remove the pan from the heat to cool.
Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until fluffy. Add the vanilla and melted chocolate. Beat on medium speed about 2 minutes, until the dough is thick and glossy. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the chocolate mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes, which makes it easier to scoop.
Use a 1 ¾ inch diameter scoop to drop spoonfuls of dough on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them at least 1 ½ inches apart. Wet your fingertips lightly with water and gently flatten the cookie dough(no need to press hard, just press out the hump) Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the tops begin to crack and look glossy. Cool the cookies for 10 minutes before removing them from the baking sheets.

10 comments:

RecipeGirl said...

Funny post. I just had my pre-crown work done the other day too. Maybe I'll bring my dentist some goodies when I go back. My dentist talks a lot too. And he's this totally cute, hot, surfer dentist. It makes going to the dentist a little bit easier!

grace said...

i HATE that the dentist and hygienist try to talk to you while sticking their hands and tools in your mouth--it drives me crazy. maybe that's just because they don't talk to me about food. :)
great cookies, obviously. the more chocolate, the better. :)

Mike of Mike's Table said...

Boo dental work. Yay cookies...especially these cookies. I'm in a very chocolate hungry mood right now and these look awesome

susan said...

oh myy, these really are a triple threat! and i love that u included the conversation with your dentist! makes it extra special :)

Lucy..♥ said...

Funny conversation ;).. these cookies are right up my alley... having a chocolate attack, YUM!!!

Rosie said...

Those chocolate cookies I'd rather have any day than visits to the dentist and hygienist!

Rosie x

Anonymous said...

OMG the dialog while you're getting your teeth worked on is hilarious. It drives me nuts when they ask questions that I want to answer and can't! The cookies sound amazing. I made a similar recipe last year and turned them into chocolate ice cream sandwiches. Talk about death by chocolate...

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

MmMmMmmmm! My dentist likes to ask me questions while she has her hands in my mouth!

Katrina said...

YUMMY cookies!

Sandie said...

I know dentists and hygienists are just trying to be friendly when they ask you questions, but really, sometimes it's okay not to make small talk.

These cookies look delicious, they must have loved them!