Midnight Crackles

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie pick was selected by Lori and Jules, who keep the Tuesdays with Dorie group running! They chose Midnight Crackles. This is the third anniversary for Tuesdays with Dorie, and the group always does something special for the first selection of the year. One year Dorie chose the recipe, another time the group voted. I was glad that the group leaders could pick, since they work so hard! You can find the recipe for Midnight Crackles on the Tuesdays with Dorie site.

I made these about a week ago, since I was going in to work during the break and I wanted to have something to share. I made the dough the night in advance, refrigerated it overnight and then baked the cookies in the morning. Or maybe a should say attempted to bake the cookies in the morning! The recipe says to refrigerate the dough an hour or up to 24 hours. There's a little note that says if the dough is solid to let it set at room temperature for a while. Well my dough was so solid that there was no way that I was forming it into cookies! I should always take note of some of the little comments Dorie makes, because they are usually very important! After letting the dough sit out for over an hour, it was somewhat softer and I was able to shape the dough into cookies. I do have to say that my hands hurt afterward.

That being said, I really liked these cookies. I made a half batch, but that still made plenty of cookies. I used some chocolate that had been given to me by a friend at work; I don't think it was bittersweet chocolate, more likely semi-sweet chocolate. That seemed to be ok since they were still dark as midnight. I loved the subtle spiciness mixed with the chocolate. That's a flavor combination that I like a lot. Since my cookies were so solid when I put them in the oven, I'm not sure if mine are puffier than they should be. I'm going to check out how the other Tuesdays with Dorie bloggers did this week to see if I can find an answer. I would definitely make these again, I just won't refrigerate then too long next time!

Recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan