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Christmas: Chocolate Cloud Cookies

Source of Recipe


Chef Hope Sandler (Bon Vivant School of Cooking)



List of Ingredients



• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
  
• 8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
  
• ½ cup granulated white sugar
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  
• ¼ tsp salt
  
• ½ tsp baking powder
  
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
  






Instructions



1. In a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and set aside.
   
   
2. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs and sugar until thick, pale and fluffy. (When you slowly raise the beaters, the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow ribbons.) At this point, beat in the vanilla extract and then stir in the melted chocolate mixture.
   
   
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to shape into balls, at least 1 hour (preferably several hours or even overnight).
   
   
4. Preheat oven to 325° F and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Place the confectioners' sugar in a shallow bowl. With lightly greased hands, roll a small amount of dough into the confectioners' sugar and roll the ball in the sugar until it is completely coated and no chocolate shows through. Gently lift the sugar-covered ball, tapping off excess sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheets. Continue forming cookies, spacing about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. If you find the dough getting too soft for rolling into balls, return to the refrigerator and let chill until firm.
   
   
5. Bake cookies 10 to 13 minutes, or just until the edges are slightly firm but the centers are still soft. For moist, chewy cookies, do not overbake. Overbaking will cause them to be dry. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
   
   Makes 36 cookies.