Once More, with Feeling: Javascript Cookies™

Another of those twelve cuppa joe days, so here’s another repost of my Javascript Cookies™ recipe from May, 2005. Enjoy!

Javascript Cookies™

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup finely ground coffee powder*

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened (some margarines work ~ok**) Note: I have NOT tried the old applesauce-substitution-for-shortening/butter trick in these. Anyone who’d like to try it and get back with me?

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup softened brown sugar (note: I have had some success softening hardened brown sugar with a part of the butter on low power in a microwave. Watch carefully, though, as it’s easy to burn the butter!)

2 large eggs

a teaspoon or two of milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

5 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chop your own from your fav semi-sweet chocolate)

1/2 cup hazelnuts or sliced almonds, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar for coating

Whisk together flour, coffee powder, baking powder, and salt in a bowl until combined.

Beat together butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes in a stand mixer or 4 minutes with a handheld. (Longer if you just use a hand whisk–but you do gain in control what you lose in time. Besides, it’s fair exercise. :-)) Add brown sugar and continue beating. Add egg, milk and vanilla, beating until combined. Reduce speed to low, then add flour mixture and mix until combined well. Add chocolate and nuts and mix until just combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill dough until firm, about 30 minutes.

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. (Note: oven temps vary. Use an oven thermometer.)

Roll 1 tablespoon of dough into about a 1-inch ball, then flatten slightly with palm of your hand to form a 1/3-inch-thick disk and coat with confectioners sugar. Make more cookies in same manner, arranging them 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. You can also simply drop a small spoonful of dough for each cookie without the powdered sugar. Personal taste.

Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until they puff up and tops crack slightly, 8 to 10 minutes total, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely. Recoat cookies with confectioners sugar, if you want (they’re sweet enough for me without the extra, but I have one tester who likes ‘em that way). Oven times may vary. Add time if you make your cookies larger, of course.

*coffee powder: either from your fav ground coffee or fav whole beans (preferred); grind in a blade or burr coffee grinder until a fine, powdery consistency. If using a blade grinder, grind in bursts, as the coffee may overheat, especially if you’re grinding from whole beans, before becoming powdery.

So far, the caffeine-head testers in my family love these things, and I’ve even made a decaf version (but please, don’t tell anyone about the decaf! :-))

Dunk in a nice warm cuppa joe and eat, pausing every now and then for a verse of O Blessed Holy Caffeine Tree.

**Note: as a sop to my wife’s cardiologist, I used some extremely low trans fat margarine and a little olive oil subbed for the butter. Butter will taste–and bake–a lil better, though.

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