The most evil chocolate chip cookies

These cookies were initially named Korova Cookies after the restaurant where pierre Herme created these chocolate cookies. However the name was changed by Dorie Greenspan after her friends think that daily dose of them is needed for planetary peace and happiness. Hence the name World Peace. I was first introduced by a friend who baked them and told me these are the world's most evil chocolate cookies.

So the first name I know of these cookies is World's Most Evil Chocolate Cookies and a very suitable name too because they are good, and all cookies after consumed by me will just go straight to the hips... and stay there, unfortunately. Whatever name you want to call them, they are good choc cookies ;)

The original recipe said it made 36 cookies but I only get about 30 though, probably my cookies are a little bigger?

Ingredients:

175 grams all-purpose flour
30 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
150 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
120 grams packed light brown sugar --> I cut down to 80 grams
50 grams granulated sugar --> cut down to 30 grams
1/2 teaspoon fleur del sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
150 grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips (no pieces larger than 1/3 inch), or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips --> I used Lindt's 80% dark chocolate

Method:

1. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together. --> I'm such a lazy baker, I usually skip the sifting.. opps..
2. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. 
3. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.
4. Turn off the mixer. Pour in the flour mixture (flour, cocoa and baking soda), drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. 
5. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. 
6. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.
7. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. 
8. 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 for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

Getting ready to bake: 

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 160°C. 
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
3. Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) 
4. Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about one inch between them.
5. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.

Almond Biscotti

My first introduction to almond biscotti was via a HK drama. Hah! Bet you didn't see that coming - it was a little out of norm as biscotti is more of an Italian thingy. Anyway, when I first move to Australia, one of the first few HK drama I watched was this Forensic Heroes II. One of the male character made some almond biscotti for another female character to go with coffee while watching sunset. I tried to make this a few years back when I was still staying in Sydney and it was unsuccessful.

Before CNY, my sis made a batch of it and pronounced them successful! My interested was piqued and of course, promptly made some too. Sis recommended recipe from food4tots, please refer to food4tots for a better, detailed recipe. 

Ingredients:

120 g plain flour (all-purpose flour)

30 g almond flour (ground almond)

½ tsp baking powder

1 egg (about 65g) – at room temperature

75 g castor sugar --> I used about 35 g

Pinch of salt

95 g almonds (raw)

Method:

1. Rinse almonds lightly, pat dry with kitchen towel. (it’s optional) --> I skipped this step
2. Place almonds on a baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 160 C for 8 minutes. Give it a stir or shake after 4 minutes. (I may have forgot to.) Set aside to cool.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, sieve plain flour, almond flour and baking powder. Then use a hand whisk to combine.
4. In another bowl (a bigger one), beat the egg lightly with a hand whisk or electrical mixer. Add sugar and salt. Beat until the mixture is fluffy and pale. 
5. Add in flour mixture (from step 3). Use a rubber spatula or plastic scraper to mix all the ingredients until well combined. You can use technique such as cut, press and scrape to mix. (I have no idea what this technique is…)
6. Add in the roasted almonds. Mix until well combined and form a dough. At this stage, the dough is quite sticky. So, dust your hands and counter top with more flours before proceeding to the next step.
7. Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal portions, roll into log shapes (22 cm length x 5 cm width x 1.5 cm thickness) and then flatten slightly. 
8. Place the logs on a baking tray lined with grease-proof baking paper. Transfer the tray to oven, bake at 160 C for 30 minutes or until well risen and firm. If your logs show uneven colour, rotate them at 180 degree towards the last 5 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven and let it cool for about 15-20 minutes. 
10. When the logs are cooled, use serrated knife to cut it diagonally into thin slices (0.3 cm thickness or thicker if crumble). 
11. Arrange slices on the lined baking tray, transfer to oven, place at the lowest rack and bake for a further 150 C for 14 minutes (7 minutes for each side) or until slightly golden brown.
12. Cool on rack and keep in an air-tight container for several weeks.