Blue Ribbon Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Today I'm sharing our family's favorite chewy chocolate cookies, which means you're only 8 ingredients away from these national cookie contest winners becoming your family's favorite too.  They're so good, every time I share them, I hear, "Oh my, you MUST give me this recipe!"    Let me show you how easy they are to make so you can whip up a batch whenever you want.

Start by creaming unsalted butter and sugar together until light and creamy.  I do this with a BeaterBlade attachment so I don't have to stop and scrape down the bowl of my stand mixer.  Love that thing!  

In a separate bowl, whisk together sifted cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and fine salt.

Be sure to use really high quality dutch-processed cocoa powder for really good flavor.

Add the cocoa mixture to the butter and mix until no signs of dry ingredients remain.  Then add the egg and pure vanilla extract.

Wrap the cookie dough in plastic and chill for a least 1 hour.  This step is really important so don't skip it.  

For professional looking cookies, use a #50 scoop to portion out the cookie dough (it's roughly the size of a tablespoon).  If at any time the cookie dough gets too soft, pop it back in the fridge.

Incidentally, the cookie dough freezes beautifully (as do the baked cookies).  Just be sure to wrap the dough very well in plastic wrap and store it in an airtight container - this can be done as a whole batch of dough, or individual balls.  Thaw the wrapped cookie dough in the fridge before unwrapping, rolling, and coating with sugar.  

Roll the cookie dough into balls, then coat with granulated sugar.  Vanilla sugar is nice too.

Space 12 cookies evenly on two silpat lined half sheet pans (bake only one pan at a time).  You can use parchment paper, but I've test both surfaces and silpats work better for these cookies.  

Bake for about 9 or 10 minutes - cool completely.

These cookies are simply spectacular.  Enjoy!

Items needed to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• excellent quality cocoa powder https://amzn.to/35M0qpc

• the best vanilla extract https://amzn.to/3r9wNGK

• vanilla sugar https://amzn.to/3Jc4bme

• #50 cookie scoop https://amzn.to/3JrSubx

• silat silicone liners https://amzn.to/3HCz035

• professional sheet pans https://amzn.to/34pWo5x

• beaterblade https://amzn.to/34HEVFr

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Blue Ribbon Chewy Chocolate Cookies

makes 24 cookies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 6 tablespoons dutch processed cocoa, sifted (use really good quality)

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• granulated sugar to roll cookie dough in before baking (or use vanilla sugar)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; set aside until needed.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater or BeaterBlade attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes until it lightens in color.

3. Add egg and pure pure vanilla extract; continue to mix until no traces of egg remain.

4. Turn mixer speed down to low; add cocoa mixture and combine until no traces of dry flour or cocoa remain, scraping bowl if needed.

5. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.

6. Preheat oven to 350F, place rack in center of oven, and line 2 half sheet pans with silpat liners.

7. Using a #50 scoop (about 1 tablespoon), roll level scoops of chilled cookie dough in the palm of your hand to form a ball; coat with granulated sugar and space evenly on sheet pan, 12 per pan.

8. Bake for 9-10 minutes; remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Gluten-Free Fudge Cookies

These Fudge Cookies are the bomb!  They're soft, and chewy, and absolutely packed full of deep chocolate flavor.  Oh, and did I mention they're gluten-free and dairy-free too!  You are going to LOVE these cookies!  The recipe comes together pretty quickly using a stand mixer.  Here's how they're made.

We're going to start with confectioners sugar (aka 10x, powdered sugar, or icing sugar).  

I always sift confectioners sugar because it's notoriously clumpy. 

Next we need Dutch-process cocoa.  Use very good quality - it's the major flavor component of these cookies.

Again, cocoa powder is notoriously clumpy so it gets sifted too.   I use a mesh strainer to sift my dry ingredients, but I know some people are very fond of a more traditional sifter.

Stir the sifted sugar and cocoa together.

Done. 

Time to add the egg whites.  Because eggs whites aren't a consistent size, I like to weigh them.  Actually, I like to use a digital scale to weigh most ingredients when I bake - it's the most reliable way to get consistent results, but we can talk about that another time.

Ok, we need just a couple more super yummy ingredients like pure vanilla extract and espresso powder.  These two brands are excellent.  You won't be disappointed if you use them.  

In goes the espresso powder.

Followed by the pure vanilla extract - use the good stuff! 

Place the mixing bowl on the stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or, even better, a BeaterBlade.  I love using a BeaterBlade because it has silicone ribs that scrape the sides of the bowl for you.  No more stopping to scrape down the sides manually.  Love, love, love my BeaterBlade (they're available in different sizes so be sure to get the one that fits your mixer).

Time to mix.  Since the cocoa powder and confectioners sugar tend to create a cloud of dust when mixing, I like to cover the mixer and bowl with a clean kitchen towel until all the dry ingredients are moistened.  Plastic wrap works well too.  

Okay, the cookie dough is done when all the ingredients are combined.  It'll be smooth and glossy and should look like this.  Let the dough rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes to firm up a bit before scooping.

Use a #50 scoop to portion the cookie dough onto a Silpat lined half sheet pan (these cookies don't look as nice when baked on parchment).  Using a portion scoop will ensure the most consistent results.  

See how all the cookie blobs are the same size and they're spaced evenly on the sheet pan?  That enables them all to bake in the same amount of time and they'll all be the same size.  If you don't have a #50 scoop, you can portion the dough using a level tablespoon.  

This cookie dough contains a lot of confectioners sugar which tends to dry out easily so cover it with a damp kitchen towel to prevent it from crusting between batches (I reused the same towel that covered my stand mixer earlier).  

Oh my, they're sooooo good.  I wish you could smell them.  I'm dying!!   

Now muster all your will power and allow the cookies to cool completely on the sheet pan before serving.  Mmm... they're so soft and chewy and fudgy and amazing.  You're going to love them!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• digital scale https://amzn.to/3HdExwS

• #50 cookie scoop https://amzn.to/3gnQ6Gh

• silpat liners https://amzn.to/3r8YuiM

• half sheet pans https://amzn.to/3g717eP

• beaterblade attachment https://amzn.to/3GabbOL

• dutch processed cocoa powder https://amzn.to/3Ho2mSE

• pure vanilla extract https://amzn.to/3HanYSv

• instant espresso powder https://amzn.to/3Ho2mSE

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Gluten-Free Fudge Cookies

makes 32 cookies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups (18 ounces, 518g) confectioners sugar, sifted

• 2 cups (6 ounces, 184g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted

• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml, 3g) fine salt

• 6 large egg whites (6 ounces, 180g)

• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) espresso powder

• 4 teaspoons (20 ml) pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Line two half sheet pans with Silpat liners.

3. Stir the sifted confectioners sugar and cocoa powder together in the bowl of a stand mixer.

4. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and place on mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a BeaterBlade attachment.

5. Mix on low speed until the ingredients are completely combined and the dough is smooth and glossy.

6. Allow the cookie dough to rest for 10 minutes at room temperature.

7. Use a #50 scoop to portion dough onto half sheet pans lined with Silpat liners.

8. Bake on center rack for 8-12 minutes. The cookies should begin to crack when they're done.

9. Remove from oven and allow to cookies to cool completely on sheet pan.

Note 

• Store cookies in an airtight container between layers of wax paper.