Earthquake Cookies

This month is going to be all about cookies. With an almost 2-year-old toddler on hand, I am running out of snacking options really fast. Especially because he does not have anything close to a sweet tooth. He likes his savory food to the hilt and main meals are always quite manageable. What has me really in a fix is a quick snack that can be made ahead and is something he will lap up happily. A cookie seems like a really good option in this category. However, this cookie has nothing to do with my toddler as this was way too sweet and chocolaty for his liking. This is for mommies’ indulgence. Here we provide you with passion the recipe of Earthquake Cookies.

Tips for preparation

These cookies are out of the world good and come from Baking – A Commonsense Guide. I think I am going to focus on this book. This is the second recipe out of this book and I really love it. I have another recipe for the same cookie on the blog under Crack cookies. That recipe is equally good and used olive oil as the fat content is less.

• You can substitute olive oil in place of butter. I have given the measurement in the main recipe.
• Don’t go overboard with the chocolate. Stick to the exact quantity or reduce the amount of sugar comparatively. I added an estimated amount of chocolate as I had some on hand that was already melted. I knew I was adding extra. It made the cookies overly sweet.
• If you divide the dough to the exact number as in the recipe the baking time is perfect.
• I have made two batches. One with butter and the other with olive oil. They both came out equally good.
• When mixing the butter and brown sugar I mixed them in my grinder to get the sugar to powder form. You can do that to the sugar before adding to the butter. Brown sugar naturally is sticky as compared to normal white sugar. I have always powdered it first and then used it in the recipes. However, I had a problem while powdering it this time and had to add the fat to help the process. It could have been because of the summer heat.
• My butter, sugar and vanilla mix never reached the light and creamy stage. It became smooth, but the fat was separate. It only came together when I added the eggs. So this is the stage my mix became light and creamy.
• If you use olive oil the rolling process may get messy during the summers.

Ingredients

Unsalted butter 125 grams (cubed & softened)

Or

Olive oil 100 grams

Soft brown sugar 2 cups

Vanilla essence 1 tsp

Eggs 2

Dark chocolate 60 grams (melted)

Milk 80 ml

Plain flour 2 ¾ cups

Cocoa powder 2 tbsp

Baking powder 2 Tsp

Ground Allspice ¼ tsp (didn’t add)

Chopped pecan nuts 85 grams (didn’t add)

Icing sugar for coating

Making of Earthquake cookies:

• Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla essence until light and creamy.
• Add in one egg at a time and mix well.
• Stir in the chocolate and milk.
• Sift in all the dry ingredients and mix well.
• Refrigerate the mix for 3 hours to overnight.
• Line two baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Preheat the oven at 180C and then roll ½ tbsp. full of mixture into balls and roll it in icing sugar and finally place it on the baking sheets 2” apart.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes.
• Cool completely.

Enjoy!!!