Mudslide Cookie

The coffee shop right next to my work has a very tasty treat. It is called the mudslide cookie, and it is the fusion of chocolate with chocolate in a chocolate envelope. What I am saying is that particular cookie, has so much chocolate that really gives you the idea of the mud. The bad thing is that it is a very popular treat, and it is gone probably by 10:00, the time I usually show up for coffee. So I was wondering how can I make them.

I looked on the internet and I found a few recipes, but from the feel of it, not very satisfying. Some where calling for to many eggs some where calling for nuts, some other for too much chocolate (not that is a bad thing… just trying to keep it in normal levels). I must cite however my sources, since the recipe I am giving here is fusion of those recipes.

• Mudslide cookies from Cooking light 2007
• Mudslide cookies by Jacques Torres

Those recipes I think where a bit off, of what I was shooting for. I never tried them though so they might be good. Try them and let me know.

• 2 oz of unsweetened chocolate
• 2 oz of semisweet chocolate
• 1 1/2 cup of chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp instant espresso (or other instant coffee)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 pinch of salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 1+1/2 cups of flour (+++ maybe more later)
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 2 1/2 cups of sugar (vanilla sugar if you have it)
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or imitation)

Yeah I know a bit long but not too long… and so is the making process, so let ‘s get started because we got work to do…

Put some water in a pot over medium heat and on top add a wide metal bowl so it touches the surface. Making a double boiler or ben Marie, as is also known.

Take the stick of butter and cut a tbsp and a dash more…

Chop the chocolate in fine pieces. For that one I recommend (highly recommend) a serrated knife, since as you can see it can really break the chocolate very easy. I also don ‘t use the wood board, (not because I want to show off), but a plastic board is much easier to clean afterwards.

This is actually the unsweetened chocolate as you can tell from the darker color.

Add the butter to the double boiler and when it starts melting…

add the chocolate.

Work it to a smooth paste.

At this point add the water

and the instant coffee.

The mix will lose its shine and will became thicker. That is the effect of the water. It binds onto the chocolate solids and makes a network, that makes the melted chocolate more as a paste than liquid. Don ‘t worry, we want it that way, so the dough will not be as thin. You can let it simmer there for about an hour, nothing nasty is going to happen.

Measure the flour and…

use the back of your knife to smooth it out. We will need 1 and 1/2 cups, but once is all done, you might need more.

Sift the flour through a mesh to remove or break any flour aggregates. And the truth is revealed. That is why you shift the flour. Not for bugs…

Measure 1 tsp of baking powder… Yup… That ‘s why that  tab of aluminum is there. To even out the measurement… Ah technology.

Repeat with measuring 1/2 cup of cocoa.

Those little clusters you trying to avoid. Nasty little buggers… They are extremely bad especially for cocoa. But if you like skip them. Once you bite on one of them then you will know. You can use a whisk to push them through.

Add the salt and then just mix all the dry ingredients together.

Turning our attention on the wet stuff. Start by crashing the eggs in a glass bowl (or metal, but no plastic, you can never take the eggness out of it).

Add all the sugar and the milk and beat.

Beat until it forms a paste. It will take a while… But be patient.

Take a portion of it, and add it tot he chocolate. I like to get it through the strainer to catch any sugar clamps.

Whisk it together.

And add it to the rest of the egg mixture. What we just did is called tempering, and it is used to slowly elevate the eg temperature, so we don ‘t cook the egg, by introducing directly the eggs to the hot chocolate.

Now bring the hot… well formerly hot mix, and mix it with the dry stuff.

Now add the vanilla, and stir to combine.

Add the last chocolate part, which is the chips…

Mix again…

And put it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. That will give time to the flower to hydrate and fully relax. It will also firm up the butter and the chocolate, and make the dough more pliable.

This time I noticed that it required some more flower, even after it spent a good time in the refrigerator. Now only the oven (which is set at 350 F) is between us and the cookies.

Spray non stick spray on the baking pan.

It will act as glue to keep the parchment paper from rolling.

This was my workstation. You don ‘t need a little table, but in my kitchen there is no other way. They dough and a bowl of warm water.

Dip your finger in the water.

Grab a small piece of the dough (at the size of the walnut).

Form it as spherical as possible. Be quick not perfect. And space them on the baking sheet.

Bake them at 350 F, until they start cracking. Not hey didn’t multiple in the oven, this is a different batch. The first one, I ate immediately. I was impatient to see how they will come out.

Just like that. Let them cool, a bit on the pan for a minute or two,

And transfer them on a cooling rack.

A cool idea I had at the end was to add a sprinkle of rock salt, that will enhance the flavor of the chocolate.I totally recommend it. Ok this is far the largest post. It is a time consuming, recipe that has you wonder… “Does it really worth that time and effort?”… Well I will let you decide yourself…

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