As Good As Hametz

I made these chocolate cookies for Passover, and my kids have deemed them worthy of year-round eating. They are delicious but extremely rich and dense, so one is plenty.

Chocolate Passover Cookies

½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
½ cup matzo meal
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
4 large egg whites
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Add melted chocolate, matzo meal, and salt. Beat until mixture just comes together. (It should be thick.)

In a clean bowl (I have only one bowl for my KitchenAid, so I had to wash it out to reuse it) and with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into chocolate mixture. (There was no way this was "folding." The chocolate mixture was like cement, so I really had to mix hard to get the egg whites incorporated. But it still worked out fine.) Add chocolate chips, and stir. Let stand 15 minutes.

Scoop 2-inch balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. (It said that a single batch would be 14 cookies, but I made a double batch and got 36 cookies.) Bake until set, 10–12 minutes. Let cool on sheet on a wire rack for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to rack, and let cool completely.

Comments

[Susan]

Thanks, Karen. I'll give them a try. Here, though, is one from my mother for your Pesach recipe file. (I don't recall your family having nut allergies.) If our mixer was not so cumbersome, these cookie recipes would be easy.

Forgotten Cookies - 3 doz.

2 egg whites
3/4-cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup broken pecans
1-cup choc. chips (bittersweet better than semi-sweet)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper (or foil).
2. With electric mixer, beat egg whites until peaks begin to form. Add sugar slowly. Add vanilla & salt & beat until everything is very stiff and very shiny.
3. Fold in pecans and chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoon onto the prepared cookie sheets
4. Place in preheated oven. Turn off the oven and forget the cookies until the next morning.

[Wendy]

I always get irritated when a recipe calls for more whites than yolks. I have frozen whites in my freezer, saved from custards and so forth, that are useful for the occasional angelfood cake, but it's harder to use up leftover yolks on the spur of the moment. But I have enough friends who would enjoy these during the Leaven-Free Season that I could perhaps manage it, once a year . . . Thanks.

[Karen]

I tossed the extra yolks. I suppose I could've saved them for zabaglione, but I don't make zabaglione.

[Renee]

I would never think to put matzo in these! that is adorable. I think the key to a good cookie is some great vanilla extract. Totally worth the splurge!

[Elisson]

Oy. Another recipe for tasty goodies I have no business eating.

Ah, well. I've been using your recipes for almost nine years now - Ultimate Roast Duck! - and I have yet to be disappointed.