Chocolate Extremes (Double Chocolate Cookies) Recipe (2024)

These cookies are lethally delicious. Not as time consuming as their creator, Wendy London, (not credited here) would have you believe. There is no need to chop up the nine ounces of chocolate in tiny bits to melt. Just throw big pieces into the double boiler and heat will do the rest. Nor do you have to apply a ruler to be sure you've chopped the 6 ounces into 1/2" chunks. Just eyeball it, and so what if they're smaller. The recipe makes way more than 18.

These cookies are really something special. Super good, uber-chocolatey. A shiny, crackly surface yields to a tender, brownie-like center. I used a combination of bittersweet, semisweet and milk chocolate b/c that's what I had in my pantry, and they were a big hit with the NYT Cooking staff.

Oh, lordy! Delicious and not cloyingly sweet. I made them with a gluten-free flour, as is my habit, and they were splendid. I did pinch some grains of salt on the top, and thought that added a lot to the flavor. I was lucky to have given away a dozen of these as Valentine's gifts, or else I'd have scarfed them all. Every recipient raved.

"9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, preferably Valrhona, finely chopped, plus 6 ounces cut into *-inch chunks"From reading other comments I've deduced that "*-inch chunks" likely means "1/2-inch chunks," but all I'm seeing is the asterisk. Can someone look into this and update the recipe with the correct amount please? Thanks!

These are delicious.Even though I hate sifting - and especially sifting cake flour (isn’t it sifted already?), I did sift the cake flour- and then measured it. They are good the day they are made but transcendent the next day. I have made them with pecans and English walnuts- use what you’ve got. I used Ghirardelli and Lindt chocolate bars but both times had to extend the melted chocolate with some chocolate chips. Really special cookies- this recipe is a keeper.

used 1 Tbs coffee liqueur instead of espresso, also 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (instead of 6oz chopped chocolate) along with toasted walnuts. A keeper!

The first time that I made them I had only a mixture of supermarket-bought dark and milk chocolate at hand, and they turned out perfect: cripsy on the outside, gooey on the inside! The second time I used Valrhona, and they also turned out very good, but rather uniformely moist, more like brownies. Judging from the price difference of a non-brand supermarket chocolate and the uber-pricey Valrhona, I would say: go for any chocolate you have handy. Those cookies will turn out great anyhow!

This looks so good! Has anyone tried using all purpose flour instead of cake flour??

From Molly O'Neill's intro: "These provocatively named cookies came to The Times in a 1999 Sunday Magazine article about Mrs. London's Bake Shop, a husband and wife owned bakery in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., known for their sweets.". . . and there is a link to the 1999 NYT article, "Food: the Love Connection," which goes into great detail about Wendy London and her husband, Michael (they actually sold the business in 2014). I can't imagine how much more "credit" you would ask for, frankly

Yes, I used the Namaste g-f flour with excellent results. You're right that the very small amount of flour in this recipe makes it an obvious option.

The key to this recipe is using Bittersweet chocolate. For the balance of chocolate, I use Black and Green's 70% dark chocolate bars and sprinkle the final cookie with Murray River or Maldon sea salt before popping in the oven.

A keeper. Eggs and sugar have to be beaten for 10 min. Instead of expresso, I added 1 tbsp. rum. Chocolate must be of best quality 70%. No Hershey's kisses. Bake it exactly 14 minutes at 325F. A winner.

I made these with Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips, and a mix of chopped almonds and pistachios, because that’s what I had on hand. I also added a tablespoon of cinnamon and a generous pinch of cayenne, because I wanted a Mexican chocolate flavor. They came out great!

Awesome. Be careful not bake to over-bake.

I am wondering whether the 6 oz cut into chunks could be replaced by Guittard or another high end brand of chocolate chunks without a significant loss of quality (to shorten the amount of time between deciding to bake and getting them into my mouth)?

These cookies are very good. Very brownie-like. Batter is unlike any cookie I've ever made - they couldn't be simpler to make. Mine didn't look as shiny and didn't crack like the photo. I used semi-sweet with one ounce of unsweetened chocolate, because that's what I had on hand. Pecan make the cookie!

These are absolutely wonderful and kind of foolproof. Like others, I used a medley of chocolate I had, in my case bittersweet and semi. I swapped the nuts for dried cherries and will never go back-the deep chocolate and dark cherries just love each other in this cookie. I found the dough a little loose so I popped it in the fridge for 15 minutes before I dropped them on the cookie sheet and found that helpful. Lift carefully when done-they crack easily when hot.

Doubling the amount of espresso, and adding a whole cup of oats really added an enjoyable new texture and flavor depth to these cookies. Highly recommend!

I weighed everything out but my cookies are much denser than they appear in the photo - there is no spread.

We subbed 1 tsp espresso powder instead of the brewed espresso. We made two batches — one with nuts and one without— both were very good.

Could not really “substantially” increase in volume the egg/sugar mix, despite at least 10 min. of whipping. I’m wondering if you separated the eggs, whipped the whites to stiff peaks, and then added to a well beaten sugar/egg yolk mix if you would get a better volume increase?

Has anyone made these without nuts? I want to bake this cookie for people whose preferences may be nut-free. Also, I doubled the recipe and used 8 ounces of semisweet chocolate and 4 ounces of unsweetened, and added an extra 2 T of sugar. They were plenty chocolate-y enough (I omitted the nuts and used 2 extra T of sifted cake flour to compensate--they were still very brownie like.) I also followed someone's note about baking for 14 minutes at 325, instead of 350; they were perfect.

subbed pecan for halva <3

Good but not amazing. Maybe better with brown sugar instead of white?

Very good. Thanks for the comment that the raw dough is like praline (it was) but will bake up fine (it did).Used grocery chocolate - mix of semi-sweet and bittersweet. A better quality chocolate will definitely improve the flavor. Much better the next day.Next time I’ll add some chopped up candied citrus peel.

RESIST! Resist the urge to add more flour! The batter will seem thin and runny. Almost like chocolate covered pecans. You think it will come out like a praline. But do not add more flour! I did and then did not. They will turn out beautiful as is. RESIST!!

SO CHOCOLATEY! SO GOOD! I used slivered almonds instead of pecans, and even hid a chunk of marzipan in the middle of each cookie, which seems over the top but was divine.

My cookies came out a bit too crumbly and cakey. What did I do wrong.

Ok I have to remember to read the comments before I bake/cook. Anyway, finely chopping 9 oz and the rest took me longer than 30 min prep. They’re good but came out a little flatter than expected.

I made these without nuts which seems to have changed the baking time. Mine definitely needed 20 minutes to achieve the desired texture, but still did not crack on top. Does anyone know if there are guidelines for adjusting the bake time and/or temperature if no nuts are used?