Baked Sunday Mornings: Cream Cheese Chocolate Snacking Cookies

This week's Baked Sunday Mornings recipe is "Cream Cheese Chocolate Snacking Cookies," a cookie Matt and Renato describe as a departure from the traditional Baked repertoire. It's an easy recipe to make. Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar, and brown sugar; add eggs, cream, and vanilla; add dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder); added melted bittersweet chocolate and chocolate chips; chill, scoop; and bake. I used a #24 scoop and I got 32 cookies from each batch of dough.

I have made these cookies before and the first time I thought I had not baked them long enough -- they were fully cooked, but quite soft and crumbly. So this time I made a deliberate effort to bake them for a bit longer. Still, my cookies ended up soft and crumbly. The texture is strange -- it's like there simply isn't enough holding the cookie together. When I layered the cookies neatly between sheets of wax paper in a rigid container, I didn't have any problems. But when I put one in a Ziploc bag and threw it in my lunch bag, it arrived at the office broken into bits.

The cookie tastes like straight chocolate, and while it was tasty, I thought the flavor was one note and not that interesting. I found myself wishing that these were mint chocolate chip cookies instead (fortunately, Baked Elements has a recipe for Chewy Chocolate Mint Cookies!). The chocolate chips add a lot of interest and if anything, I think the recipe would probably benefit from more chocolate chips.

While these cookies have been very warmly received both times that I've made them, I don't see the appeal of this recipe. The taste is flat. The texture is just odd. I had some leftover cookies and I stuck them in a Ziploc bag so I could stash them in the freezer for a future occasion when I need chocolate cookie crumbs; I gently kneaded the bag with my hands and the cookies just fell apart. But I'm looking forward to the time when I get to use the crumbs for a delicious chocolate cookie crust!

Recipe: "Cream Cheese Chocolate Snacking Cookies" from Baked Elements: Our 10 Favorite Ingredients, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.

Comments

Glimmermama said…
What a great idea!! I won't have any cookies leftover but the crumbs would definitely make a great crust!!
Anonymous said…
They were pretty crumbly! But they would be perfect for crumbling over ice cream or making a crust!
Good idea to save for a cookie crust. I bet they'd be good crumbled over ice cream too!
Bourbonnatrix said…
ohhhh i want crumbs too! a crust, or sprinkled over ice cream...
Candy said…
Oooh, I can't wait for the chocolate mint cookies!
Chelly said…
Wow! I love the crumb idea also! Mine fell apart very easily also...the texture was a little odd. But I loved the taste!
HB said…
For the past few weeks I have been getting your posts to my inbox and I just wanted to say how much I value your honesty! Many cooking bloggers don't give an account of the actual result of their recipe, but rather supply lots of photos! Or if they do the review of their recipe is always positive. But you provide a balanced in depth review which is great and makes for an interesting read. Great blog - LOVE the name!
sarah said…
I made these a while ago, and felt the same way. I *wanted* to love them. I felt so strongly that I posted on Baked's fb page and asked for help! They turned out exactly the same way the second time. Too crumbly, too thin, etc.
Anonymous said…
That's interesting they fell apart twice (mine didn't, thankfully)! For a chocoholic fix, they are great, but I know exactly what you mean by them being a little lackluster.