Earthquake Chocolate Cookies Recipe

These are my favorite cookies, my secret weapon, the ones I hardly ever make cause I know I'll eat and eat and eat them...
The recipe is by Carine Goren from her first book "Sweet Secrets", which is also available in English. They are soooo good.



Ingredients-
3 eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar ( I use a little less)
12 ounces/350g bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons Irish Cream (optional, I have also used rum)
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
3/4 heaping cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup ground almonds

Coating-
Sugar (I put a little in a bowl and refill as needed)
Powdered sugar (same as with the sugar)

Preparation-
1. In a mixer (I have a Kitchenaid stand mixed, but hand mixer will also work) whip the eggs and sugar on high speed for 5 minutes until thick and pale in color.  

This is an important step, the eggs should turn light in color (very pale yellow) and triple their volume, when you lift the whisk with the mixture it should fall back in ribbon-like shape.
Surprisingly I didn't find a lot of videos showing how to whip whole eggs (as opposed to white or yolks), but this one, in a language I don't recognize (sorry about that) shows it well. Skip to the last 15 seconds to see how your eggs should look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj0cdlOlkbg

2. Meanwhile, melt together the chocolate and butter. Fold the egg mixture into the melted chocolate mixture. Mix the Irish cream and coffee powder and add to the mixture.

3. Add ( I sift it in) the flour, baking powder and ground almonds, and fold just until evenly combined. The batter will be fairly thin. Make sure you use fresh baking powder, otherwise the cookies will not rise properly and flatten out.

4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours until the mixture sets (I sometimes refrigerate it overnight).

5. Preheat oven to 190 C/375 F

6. Form the mixture into 1 and a 1/2 inch balls (I wet  my hands lightly and roll).

7. Prepare one bowl with sugar and one with powdered sugar.
Roll each ball in sugar and then in powdered sugar. Place the balls, spreading them out evenly, onto a parchment lined cookie tray. They rise and spread when baked.

8. Bake for 8 minutes. No more!! The cookies will flatten slightly, deep cracks will appear on their surface and they will be very soft to the touch. This is fine, they will cool and harden.
Cool thoroughly (if you have the will power. I don't.) and store in one layer, in a sealed container at room temperature.

I sometimes keep the mixture in the fridge for 2-3 days and bake a new fresh batch of cookies when desired... And they are oh so very desirable...

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