chocolate orange polenta cookies @ Honest Cooking

Hello there! Today my recipe for Chocolate Orange Polenta Cookies is up over at Honest Cooking.

I gotta say, they're pretty yummy.

Lexi.x

You've got the right puff, baby. Chocolate chocolate cookies on.

I sing to my cat Quincy all the time - and I don't know if that's weird, or what. My neighbour probably thinks that it is. But in all honesty, it's one of the things that brings joy to my day. I look at her little face and into her giant eyes and just sing to her, about her. All the time. And I don't really care if people think I'm mad. 

I'm know I'm not the only one who does this, anyway. Two of my closest friends sing to their cats too and I think being able to share that kind of madness is one of the reasons that I love them so much. And I really love that we each participate in this nutty act in our own way. One friend composes songs from scratch. The other makes her cat play along - guitar (or sometimes drums) with his little paws. And me? Well, I tend to rewrite the lyrics of songs I love to make them about Quincy. So it made me laugh very, very much when I received this in an email from a friend this week:

Yep, click on it. That's the artwork to my first album of Quincy covers. Isn't it beautiful? Isn't she beautiful? Or... lovely? I wanted to make something for the friend who sent it to me, so I looked (once again) to Good to the Grain for the answer. And I found it, in Kim Boyce's recipe for 'chocolate chocolate cookies'.

I feel a bit ashamed to say this, but chocolate isn't my favourite thing in the world. I mean, I really like it - and sure, sometimes I'm in the mood for a really good piece (or two). But no chocolate display makes me weak at the knees and (at the risk of Hannah never speaking to me again) I would never buy a packet of Tim Tams. I probably wouldn't even eat one if there was a packet open in the office. UnAustralian, I know. But these cookies! First of all, they're packed full of 70% cocoa dark chocolate; half is melted into the batter, half is chopped and stirred in. All is delicious. Secondly, the texture of the cookies is kicked up into a whole new level when you roll the sticky batter in cocoa nibs. Oh, CACAO NIBS (or however the hell you spell it). Bitter-sweet and fruity, they gently toast as the dough relaxes into a sexy sprawl in the heat of the oven, so that you end up with a crackly and shiny cookie, studded with these crunchy and ever-so-gently-squeaky little bits of cocoa bean. And finally - you might not be able to tell from looking at them - but these little darlings are made with spelt flour. After the addition of all that chocolate, you wouldn't think that'd mean much. But the nuttiness of this sweeter flour lingers beyond the intensity of the chocolate and helps to deliver a cookie with awesome might and complexity.

I think that bloke that did my album artwork liked them. I think you might, too. x

Chocolate chocolate cookies
Adapted from Good to the Grain, by Kim Boyce

I made two small changes to Boyce's recipe as it appears in her book. First, I made a half quantity of the dough, driven by the fear that I may never fit into my swimsuit again. Secondly, I made the cookies approximately half the size Boyce does (1 tablespoon of dough, rather than 2), because I like smaller cookies. I've adjusted quantities and baking times here accordingly. But you really, really should get this book. 

115g unsalted butter
240g dark chocolate (preferably 70% cocoa), roughly chopped
2 eggs
1 cup sugar, rounded (a real full cup!)
1 cup spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt (or a tiny bit less of flaked sea salt)
1/2 cup cocao nibs

1. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave. Stir to thoroughly combine.

2. Combine the eggs and the sugar and beat with an electric mixture for around 3 minutes, or until pale and creamy. With the beater still running, slowly add the warm chocolate until thoroughly combined.

3. Sift the spelt flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the chocolate mixture and gently mix until all ingredients are combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.

4. 15 minutes before you're ready to bake the cookies, turn your oven on and set to 180C/350F. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Use a tablespoon to scoop rounded quantities of the dough, pressing the top of each ball into the cocoa nibs before placing on the tray. Ensure there's enough room for the cookies to spread; I fit about 8 cookies on each tray.

5. Cook for for 15 minutes, or until cookies have spread and the edges have firmed. They'll still be soft in the middle, but that's a-ok! Shift them, paper and all, onto a cooling rack. Repeat until you have as many cookies as you want. Or keep the dough in the fridge for up to 3 days.

three kinds of good, all kinds of wrong: chocolate chip peanut butter cookies

This week I've made two unremarkable things with rhubarb. And this has made me really sad. The first - a hazelnut and rhubarb crumb cake - I was sure would be the most awesome thing that has landed on this planet in a while, but the recipe did something strange with egg whites and instead of following my instincts, I followed the recipe. FAIL. My friend Amy and I still ate some on a Monday night with big cups of tea and listed its merits, but it was too dense, too wet and just not quite right.

To remedy this, I threw together an apple and rhubarb crumble for supper with my friend Sian. It came out of the oven all golden and bubbly, the rhubarb's magic juices creeping up through the crumbs around the side. But come dessert time, we tucked in and I realised I hadn't put quite enough sugar in to balance the fruit. FAIL. Like the crumb cake, it had its merits and Sian and I still ate a bit.

I realised the next day that really, I just have polite friends. Rhubarb: why are you doing this to me?


I made these as a remedy. There's at least three good (as in sensible, healthy etc) things about these cookies: they're gluten free, they're dairy free and they contain a good hit of that magic paste known in these here parts as PB. All sounds good right? But listen. These cookies are made from peanut butter, chocolate, sugar and not much more. And they're completely, utterly addictive. There going to have me in fine form for the truffle shuffle in no time. If you're worried about this, a good idea might be to stick all those dollars you save from baking your own homemade cookies into a little tin beside the telephone. Stick a piece of masking tape on the tin, and in a thick black marker, print 'PERSONAL TRAINER FUND'. And accept my apologies. These cookies are all kinds of wrong.

As you might imagine, without flour they're very, very short, but they have a surprising crispness and a perfect resistance when you bite in. After you take a bite, the really fine crumb melts on your tongue and lets the deep brown sugar and roasted nut flavour explode in your mouth, until you hit a chocolate chip and then it's all over. Totally evil. Also, they're the easiest things in the world and they don't have rhubarb. Rhubarb, hear this: I'll get you my pretty. You and your little dog!

Chocolate chip peanut butter cookies
From taste.com.au

Note: I've included the original recipe with regular peanut butter here, but wanted to note that actually I used a natural, organic and salt free peanut butter because it is what I had on hand. To compensate, I added a good pinch of kosher salt to the mixture. But whoa Nelly - that organic peanut butter and it's supremely golden roasted goodness really took these over the edge in terms of flavour. Just an idea...

1 cup (or 260g) crunchy peanut butter
1 cup (or 200g) brown sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup (or 185g) dark choc bits

1. Pop oven on and set to 200°C. Line two trays with baking paper.

2. Combine peanut butter, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and egg in a bowl, then stir in choc bits. Really tough, huh?

3. Dampen your hands and then roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls, lining them up on the trays. Press the top of each cookie lightly with a fork to flatten slightly. Into the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until they're a gorgeous light golden colour. Leave to cool on the trays (don't try and move them hot - they're fragile!). To store, get them into an airtight container as soon as they're cool. They'll stay nice and crisp.