World Peace Cookies

I don't know what to say about these cookies except that they are probably the best cookie I have ever eaten. They are not your typical chewy, crispy, or cakey cookie. They are a sable which is a French cookie and the name means sandy. They are crumbly, yet chewy at the same time and you slice and bake them. This gives them that uniform quality. The recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan and I am dying to get her new cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours. These cookies are also known as Korova Cookies. My sister was visiting this weekend and we decided to try the recipe out.

The recipe calls for a salt called fleur de sel, which is supposedly expensive and I have no clue where you would buy it in Bakersfield. Next time I will have to find it online. I hear the recipe is also that much better if you use dutch processed cocoa powder, but I also could not find that. This cookie is all about the ingredients. Use real vanilla extract (I used an awesome Mexican vanilla), a good quality cocoa powder, fine sea salt (if you can't get fleur de sel), great tasting bittersweet chocolate, and a nice tasting butter. I wouldn't bother trying these cookies without great ingredients. When I tasted them they actually tasted expensive--I don't know if you get what I mean. So now I have joined the numbers of people who are also in love with these cookies.

World Peace/Korova Cookies

1 1/4 cups all purpose Flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder or dutch processed

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 Tbls) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp fleur de sel or 1/4 tsp fine sea salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small bits

Makes about 36 cookies.

In a small bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, and baking soda together.

In a large bowl, beat the butter until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt, and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

Pour the flour into the the creamed mixture and stir very slowly. At this point it is importnat to just get it combined. The dough will be dry and maybe a little crumbly--for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible. Add the chocolate pieces and stir in just until incorporated.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one have at a time, gently shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen up to 2 months.)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Working with a sharp knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. ( The rounds are likely to crack as you are cutting them--don't worry, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Place the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them. They don't spread much.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes. It was the perfect time in my oven. Let them cool for a few minutes on the sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. They will be really delicate until they are cooled.