Chocolate decadence Cookies

I wanted to make something to send to my chocoholic friend and came across a recipe I have been wanting to try. It's from the cookbook, Bittersweet, written by who I call the Queen of Chocolate, Alice Medrich. This is a great cookbook for chocolate lovers, it's fun just to look at the pictures of all the decadent desserts. She calls this cookie the Bittersweet decadence cookie. I personally don't like the word bitter in any of my desserts..heehee. This cookie took no time to make, the dough was really sticky and wet, not like a normal cookie dough. Here's the original recipe, I didn't make any changes to the recipe, can't mess with the queen.

Bittersweet decadence cookies

Bittersweet by Alice Medrich

¼ cup all purpose flour

¼ tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

8 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 large eggs

½ cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups walnuts or pecans, chopped into large pieces

6 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped into chunks

1. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment.

2. In a small bow, mix the four, baking powder, and salt together thoroughly; set aside.

3. Place the 8 oz of chocolate and the butter in a large heatproof bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water and stir frequently just until melted and smooth. Remove the chocolate from the skillet and set it aside. Leave the heat on under the skillet.

4. In a large heatproof bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together thoroughly. Set the bowl in the skillet and stir until the mixture is lukewarm to the touch. Stir the eggs into the warm (not hot) chocolate. Stir in the flour mixture, then the nuts and chocolate chunks.

5. Scoop slightly rounded tablespoons of batter 1 ½ inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Bake until the surface of the cookies look dry and set but the center is still gooey, 12 to 14 minutes. If you used parchment (or wax paper), carefully slide the cookies, still on the parchment, onto the racks, or set the pans on the racks. Otherwise, let the cookies firm up on the pans for a minute, then transfer them to the racks with a metal pancake turner. Let cool completely. Store in a tightly sealed container.

Notes:

• Alice suggests that you shouldn't use a silpat to bake these cookies, because the texture will be too uniform. I was so tempted to use my silpat because I LOVE my silpat, but I listened to her and used parchment paper instead. The result was a nice crunchy crust with a moist center, like I said, don't mess with the queen.
• Wait until the melted chocolate mixture is cooled before adding in the chunks of chocolate. I didn't really wait and my chocolate chunks melted right into the batter.
  
• I toasted my walnuts for about 5 to 7 minutes in a 300 degree oven, just to give it more flavor.