Grandma Phoebe’s French Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients

• 230 g Butter (Unsalted or regular; melt and brown)
• 100 g Sugar
• 100 g Brown sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Egg yolk
• 1 tsp Vanilla sugar or vanilla extract (The author allows either option)
• 0.5 Orange zest (Zest of half an orange)
• 320 g Wheat flour
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• 340 g 70% dark chocolate (Chop into pieces)
• Sea salt (If available, for sprinkling)
• Plastic wrap (For wrapping the formed dough logs)
• Parchment paper (For lining the baking sheet)

Steps

1. 1

   Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, making sure it does not begin to burn: the butter should become aromatic, brownish, and clear.

2. 2

   Remove the saucepan from the heat, pour the butter into a bowl, and refrigerate for 40–60 minutes to cool.

3. 3

   Transfer the cooled butter to a large bowl. Using an immersion blender at medium speed, beat it with the white and brown sugars until creamy.

4. 4

   Continuing to beat, add the two eggs one at a time, followed by the egg yolk.

5. 5

   Add the vanilla sugar or vanilla extract and the orange zest, and mix.

6. 6

   Scrape the mixture down from the sides of the bowl. Continuing to beat at medium speed, gradually add the flour and baking soda in a thin stream. Beat for 3–4 minutes, until the dough is smooth.

7. 7

   Add the chopped chocolate and mix until the pieces are evenly distributed throughout the dough.

8. 8

   Transfer the dough to a clean work surface, divide it into four portions, and roll each portion into a thick log.

9. 9

   Wrap each log in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour, until the dough firms up.

10. 10

    Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

11. 11

    Cut the chilled dough into cookies 5 cm thick. Arrange the pieces on the baking sheet 1–5 cm apart.

12. 12

    Sprinkle the cookies with sea salt, if desired. Bake for 9–10 minutes, until golden brown.

13. 13

    Remove the cookies and serve after baking.

Notes

The source specifies a distance of 1–5 cm between the cookies; no additional information is provided for accurately determining the cookie size or number of servings. The cooling time for the butter and dough is included in the total time.

Nutrition per serving

• dessert
• cookies
• French cuisine
• baking
• chocolate
• with orange zest
• with brown butter
• vegetarian