Chocolate Cake Cookies
I made a birthday cake for the wife of one of Chad's buddies a few weeks ago.
I should tell you that the test cake a.k.a. the quality control version that we get to eat before I send out the real deal got INHALED. I had to get that cake out of my house. I was sending Chad to work with big fat cellophane wrapped slabs frosted with just a crumb coat of buttercream, and the rich gooey remaining cake half was in my refrigerator staring at me while I tried to talk myself into apples or hummus. The cake won that battle.
That cake was triple chocolate buttercreamed ridiculousness.
I make a point to give away the baked goodies as often as possible. Obviously I test them because otherwise I'd be a big fat liar when I tell you how amazing things are. It would be a crisis of conscience to not eat at least some of what I make. But the rest gets sent to work with Chad or packed into school lunchboxes for my kids. I do my best to bake when we have family get-togethers and other occasions that allow me to pass all the sweets on to people like my littlest brother who has the most annoying metabolism on earth.
Inevitably though, lots of cookies land on my hips and then I have to bore myself to death with P-90x.
Ain't nobody got time for that.
Anyway, last month I was reading through Savory Simple and saw that Jen organized a Leftovers Club. You bake it, photograph it, taste it (duh), and then mail it! Each month you are partnered up with someone new. They send you goodies and you send them treats (cookies, bars, brownies... stuff that ships well) and then everyone posts on the first Thursday of the month about whatever they shipped.
I'm actually more excited about getting food blogger baked goods in the mail than anything.
So after I made the ridiculous triple chocolate cake that I couldn't stop shoving in my face I decided that it needed to happen in a more forgiving medium: cookies. Cake batter is soupy. Cookie batter cannot be. So it definitely took me a few tries to get it right. These cookies are RIGHT.
They came out spongy and soft and full of rich chocolatey goodness. I wasn't sure how buttercream would hold up in the mail, though. It seemed risky. So these cookies are dipped in chocolate melted with a little shortening. Double dipped actually. The chocolate/shortening combo makes this soft Magic-Shell-like coating that sets up pretty quickly. It reminds me of the frosting on Little Debbie cakes. Think Swiss Cake Roll chocolate coating. You're with me on that, right?
Also-- I'm a serious fan of butter. But please don't try to substitute butter in the candy coating. It will come out all wrong and it won't set up right. And then you'll be mad at me.
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup fat free buttermilk
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup dark dutch process cocoa
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules (or espresso powder)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons vegetable shortening
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup sprinkles
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper ( I actually also experimented with butter and cooking spray here and both worked fine on a light colored baking sheet).
- In a large bowl beat together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for about a minute. Slowly pour in the buttermilk and mix.
- In a smaller bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, instant coffee granules, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet and mix until just combined.
- The dough will be sticky. Scoop the dough out using a #70 cookie scoop or a tablespoon (the sticky dough makes a cookie scoop the easier route) and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes but NOT any longer! You don't want dry cake.
- Let the cookies cool for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cookies cool melt the shortening over medium heat in a small saucepan. Whisk in the chocolate chips. Keep stirring until the mixture is soupy and smooth and then remove from the heat.
- Lay out a sheet of wax paper. One by one carefully dip the tops of the cookies (all the way to the flat edge) in the chocolate. Set them on the wax paper to let the chocolate set. It will look too thin and you'll think I've led you astray. When you've dipped them all, start over and dip them again. Tip the pan sideways to use up all the chocolate. If you're feeling EXTRA then make more of the chocolate/shortening and dip them a third time.
- Sprinkle the cake cookies before the chocolate sets. Let them set completely. Enjoy!!
- Be sure to store these in a cool dry place.
This recipe was adapted from Andie's Quick and Easy Whoopie Pies at Can You Stay for Dinner. You should try those, too. Because everything she makes is delicious.
Check out the rest of these Leftovers Club Recipes!
"Ain’t nobody got time for that." hahahaha I literally LOL'ed haha Anyhow, these look SO good! God I miss chocolate 🙁 Eat one for me!!
Done. I had two.
I am sorry but cake cookies? GENIUS 😀
Cheers
CCU
Ooooh I was sooo channeling Uru chocolate fancy when I made these!
Thanks so much for sending these my way - I'm hoping you'll look the goodies that are coming to you too! Now that you mentioned swiss cake roll frosting they do taste like that!
Omg I was so worried that those cookies would melt on the way! I was so annoying at the post office. I seriously put them in like 4 different boxes before I settled on that one that seemed squish-proof. I really wanted to get crazy with some buttercream, but that would have NEVER made it lol. Super excited about your Moroccan Piped cookies!!
Mmmm, the cookies look good 🙂 I love 'cake' cookies, but I usually lazy-it-up and make them from a box of cake mix!
Is there some cake mix shortcut that I'm clueless about? TELL ME PLEASE!
Yes! Read my posts about Chocolate Toffee Cake Batter cookies and Red Velvet Whoopie Pies. I use cake mix to make cake cookies in both. From my experimenting, using oil makes a thin, chewy, crunchy-ish cookie and using sour cream makes a more cake-like fluffy cookie. Read the posts, then grab a mix and start experimenting!
I will read them all. Thanks, Erin!
I love shortcuts but I never have the shortcut stuff in the house, only the whole food ingredients. I just never buy it. Is it still a shortcut if you have to make a trip out to get it? 🙂
What cute cookies!! I hear ya about eating and giving things away. I feel like I constantly have food in my mouth. Being a food blogger is a tough job 🙂
It IS hard! You should join!!
You know how sometimes movies come with spoiler alerts - I think this post needed some sort of cake-cookie equivalent like "Warning: may contain irresistable levels of chocolate, cake AND cookie goodness. Do not read if you cannot bake!"
Hahaha sorry. You have to have some ridiculous bakeries available to you though, right? Well here there is NONE of that. So I hafta make it all myself. Go have a pastry for me! Or beer and tapas!
MMMM. I can just imagine that Spencer would be all over these. He cannot resist a good dessert.
These look so incredibly moist and flavorful! Can't wait to try them!
Thanks so much!! Let me know how they work out 🙂
Hi there Heather... Is this the photo I was drooling over on your facebook page? I promise I wont try to substitute any other kind of butter. That sounds like a fun club you belong to. However living all the way in HK I doubt if anything would ever make it through customs. Can you check on your e-mail subscription plugin. I want to sign up for e-mail notifications but is not letting me.
Argh! Checking it now!! Thanks, Bam! This IS what was on my personal page. I fed some to my brother and re-dipped them in chocolate. Ohhhh so good. I'm sending you a quick email so you can let me know exactly what you ran into? I think it's Feedburner giving me trouble but I'm not sure.
These looks delicious!! Im sure they crispy on the outside and moist inside!!
It's funny because really they are just like chocolate cake! Soft and moist with a tender crumb. And the "candy" chocolate coat is really just like a soft melted frosting. We loved 'em!
Oooh, these look fun & tasty! I love a good 2 bite dessert! This club is full of ridunkulous treats...Love it!
I know, right? This club is going to make me fat in a really happy way. Haha
Oh man, these look sooo good. Chocolately cookies are the bomb, but Li'l Debbie-ish chocolate cakey cookies with sprinkles?? I love it. Totally worth the time it took!
I was all over those whiskey bars, Ruthy!
These cookies were actually pretty quick. The chocolate dipping took a few mins but it sets fast so no big deal.
Those look so good! And in controllable portions, too. Unless you are me, watching my bracket implode while inhaling stress food. Then I would be like, hey! Where did those cookies go??? Uh.Oh.
This recipe makes a lot though so it would take awhile for you to notice lol. This is a fun kid-friendly recipe-- get Ellie to work it out!