Guest Blogger Adriana ~ Adriana's Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

My friend Adriana garners my respect because she is truly a wonder to behold. Adriana speaks several languages, is well-read, writes poetry, plays the piano and is a talented baker. Her intelligence boggles my mind and I'm convinced that she has extra brains that she keeps somewhere. She writes the ever interesting blog The Obsessive Rereader and she's great to follow on Twitter (@TheReReader). I was very excited when she told me she was interested in a guest post and the one she submitted is a gem!

I think it's interesting that Adriana's recipe calls for confectioner's sugar and brown sugar for the dough and granulated sugar for dipping. I'm sure the different types of sugars combined is what makes them so delightfully crispy. And coffee accompanies chocolate so well so this would be a real treat for someone looking for a variation on standard chocolate chip cookies.

Hope you'll try out her recipe, check out her blog and follow her on Twitter.
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I don’t know how I lived to be 28 without ever making chocolate chip cookies, but it’s true. For the past year I’ve been baking oatmeal raisin cookies pretty regularly, but it was my husband who finally said last week that I should make chocolate chip cookies. So I went through my cooking magazines and recipe books and finally chose a recipe for mocha chocolate chip cookies. They were easy to make and really delicious! Disclaimer: they come out very crispy, so if you like crispy, you’ll love them, but if you generally prefer softer cookies, then maybe this is not the recipe for you.

Here’s what you need:

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. table salt
2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
3 Tbsp. instant espresso powder (or ¼ instant coffee granules, crushed)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
about ¼ cup granulated sugar for dipping

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 F. Baking time: 12-14 minutes. Recipe yields about 4 dozen cookies

You’ll notice that this recipe has no eggs. The good news is that this means you can taste the dough any time you want. The bad news is that butter is your only binding agent, so you have to make sure it’s thoroughly softened before you begin mixing. Err on the side of too soft rather than not soft enough.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine your confectioners’ sugar and your brown sugar.

For my cookies, I chopped up some bittersweet chocolate that I had leftover from something else, but it wasn’t enough, so I also used some semisweet Hershey’s chocolate chips. I floured them so they wouldn’t sink, but then found out that wasn’t strictly necessary -- the cookies come out pretty flat, so the chips can’t sink very far.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and espresso powder with a hand mixer on medium speed until well combined. Add the confectioners’ sugar and brown sugar and mix until well combined. Stir in the flour mixture about ½ cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. At this point you can turn off the mixer and stir in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. This is what your dough will look like:

Put the granulated sugar in a shallow bowl. Scoop out about 1 Tbsp. dough and flatten it slightly. Dip one side into the sugar and then set the disk, sugar side up, on an ungreased baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Attention: they do flatten out and expand quite a bit while in the oven, so don’t be skimpy on the space. I ended up needing four cookie sheets, but two of my sheets are rather small, so you might be able to do it with only three.

Bake until the edges start to darken, or about 12-14 minutes. Let the cookies cool for 1-2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack lined with paper towels to cool completely.

When I pulled my first batch out, I was surprised by how flat they were, but it’s very normal, given that there are no eggs in the dough. And they are delicious! They’re crispy and buttery, yet they have a bit of chewyness as well, especially when they’re still warm. I will definitely make these again. Enjoy!