kill your heart with chocolate + toasted nuts

those of you who know me well, know that i am not the biggest fan of nuts. i hate the way they get stuck in your teeth: not only little bits of the meat of the nut, but also flakes of skin that stick to your teeth. then you’re struggling not to look weird while trying to get stuff off your teeth, because you’re ocd and you can’t stand when there’s stuff on your teeth. suffice it to say that i do not have the best relationship with nuts.

suffice it to say that these cookies are one of the few items for which i will bear nut skins stuck to my teeth. these are deeply chocolaty from the unsweetened chocolate, with a slightly “wet” crunch from the toasted nuts (do not skip the toasting step!!!). they stay soft but are best the first two days after you make them – although magically, the nuts retain their crunch. make these: you won’t regret it! then give most of them away so you don’t eat them for breakfast and inadvertently kill your heart.

chocolate chubbies
(adapted from the sarabeth bakery cookbook)

8T butter
9 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped*
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2c flour
1/2t baking powder
1/2t salt
3 eggs, room temp
1 1/4c sugar
2t dark rum
1 3/4c bittersweet chocolate chips (11 oz)
1 1/2c (5.5 oz) pecan halves
1 1/4c (4.5 oz) walnut halves

1. preheat oven to 350F. spread pecans and walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast 15 minutes. remove from oven, let cool 15 minutes, and break into pieces (size irregular, but don’t break them into pieces that are too small). leave the oven preheated. while the nuts are toasting, you can chop the chocolate.

2. melt the butter and chopped chocolates together in a bowl over a double boiler (or on low heat in the microwave, in a heatproof or pyrex bowl; remove from microwave every two minutes to give it a stir), stirring to incorporate. remove bowl from heat and let stand, until cooled slightly.

3. in the meantime, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. in a large bowl, whip the eggs on medium-high speed with an electric mixer until eggs are foamy and lightly thickened, ~30 seconds. add sugar and rum and whip on high speed until the mixture is very thick and pale yellow, about 4 minutes. reduce mixer speed to medium and beat in cooled chocolate, until completely incorporated.

4. add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just incorporated (or fold in with a spatula). stir in the chocolate chips, pecans, and walnuts with a spatula, making sure that they are evenly distributed throughout the cookie batter. the dough will be soft, and stiffen up slightly as it sits.

5. using a 2-inch ice cream scoop (or a large spoon), scoop 2T balls of dough onto a baking sheet lined with a silpat or foil, 1 1/2″ apart. bake 15-20 minutes, until cookies are set around the edges but still seem slightly underdone in the middle – be careful not to overbake. cool completely on the baking pans before removing (you may transfer the foil or silpat off the pan with the cookies on it, to do another batch.

*you may cheat with good-quality bittersweet chocolate chips if you are feeling lazy, or unfortunately didn’t realize you didn’t have any actual bittersweet chocolate in the house, like i did.

[makes 24-36 cookies; these keep for a week in an airtight container]