Chocolate Clouds-Sapirt!

Victory! After months of resistence to my insane baking habits, some friends at work finally gave in and asked me to bake again! Atkin's bankruptcy also helped:) How could I say no (!) As these guys are true dark chocolate and coffee lovers, I tried these chocoholic friendly cookies. If you are not one, are you sure we are friends?

Also, I am creating a new show and calling it "Flourless Chocolate Cake", compliments of this new tool from ODEO. You can now listen to a quick summary of tips and tricks for this recipe on Episode 1. Here we go!
I know I sound like a fairy:)

Chocolate Clouds with Turkish Coffee

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chop as small as the chocolate chips so they can melt at the same time, I use Ghirardelli.
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, I use Ghirardelli.
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, diced into 8 pieces
3 large eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons finely ground dark-roast coffee beans, such as Italian-roast (I used Turkish Coffee)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts

(optional: 1/3 cup Cocoa Bits from Scharffenberger)


1) Preheat oven to 350F and line with parchment paper.

2) Melt unsweetened chocolate, 1 cup chocolate chips (recipe calls for 2 cups, one cup will be melted, one cup will be added in the last step), and butter using a microwave or a double boiler, stirring until smooth, and let it cool while mixing the other ingredients. If using microwave, make sure to check the power and do not use anything more than 50%.

3) In a bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs, sugar, and ground coffee on high speed (10 with Kitchenaid) until very thick and pale and mixture forms a ribbon when beaters are lifted, about 5-7 minutes, (longer if using hand mixer) and beat in the melted chocolate mixture. Make sure to stop every 3 minutes and scrape the mixer.

4) Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until just combined with a whisk. Sift in the mixture and fold gently, it is better if you do it in two steps.

5) Stir in remaining chocolate chips and walnuts (and cocoa nibs if using).

This is the easy part. The hardest part is the baking. Make sure your oven is preheated to 350 already. Do not place your baking sheet into the oven beforehand or your cookies will be flat as wheat thins:)

Drop batter by heaping tablespoons about 6 on one sheet and bake in middle of oven 8 to 10 minutes, or until puffed and cracked on top. Cool cookies on the baking sheet for 1 minute and transfer to a cookie rack to cool completely.

As usual, this is not an original recipe, I just got inspired from an old Gourmet magazine and made some changes.

Enjoy!