#8: Rocky Road Chocolate Cookies

Okay, so these cookies were technically my first real "test" in my baking challenge. I had started this blog Easter weekend, when Stephen was in town to visit family, and had made the mistake of letting his mother know all about my project. Naturally, and much to my horror at the time, the first thing she did was spit out a request, I think it was along the lines of "OH MY GOSH, you're baking!? Oh my, you HAVE to find this recipe for rocky road cookies! There was a woman in my ward who was famous for those kind of cookies and I never got the recipe. I NEED that recipe! It had marshmallows and chocolate, and, oh my, I need that recipe!" Yeah, it was a challenge if I had ever heard one. A good portion of my life is spent trying to figure out, with Stephen's assistance, little ways of getting on Mothers Baird's good side (starting out the wrong foot without even INTENDING to is really tough, mind you). What better way than by baking her something she REALLY, REALLY wants: cue the rocky road chocolate cookies. I was VERY nervous about this recipe- I had only been baking for about a month, and the idea of having to present these cookies to Midge, a lifelong member of the LDS church (I don't know if you're all aware of this, but they are KNOWN for breeding phenomenal bakers, casseroles, and jelly molds...) and MOTHER OF TEN... well, it was all VERY intimidating. Plus, I didn't want to give her ANOTHER reason to be hesitant of me- "STEPHEN! Your girlfriend can't BAKE!"- it was just too much! After searching for awhile, I think I had finally found a recipe that sounded similar to the one Midge had described...

#8: Rocky Road Chocolate Cookies (as adapted from cookiemadness.net)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder (Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder is what I used)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm, cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup broken toasted pecans
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
2 cups mini-marshmallows

Glaze Ingredients:

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons boiling water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together 3 times. Set aside.
     - Yeah, I'm not sure about the three times. I took a whisk and blended it together until all of the ingredients were a uniform color- kind of a light brown. You know me and my issues with sifting. Sheesh.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy and lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat 1 minute longer. Add the eggs and mix until combined. Mix in the sour cream and the vanilla.
     - I cheated again, I'm getting pretty decent at that. I went ahead and melted the two sticks of butter in the microwave for about 45 seconds, and then took a rubber spatula to it until the butter was super creamy. PS- for some reason, I found this step and putting the sour cream in my cookies TERRIFYING. Who puts baked potato ingredients into a cookie, honestly?!
 
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing just until blended.
     - Or use your weapons of mass destruction like I always have to (still waiting on that mixer, people)

5. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the pecans and chocolate chips.

6. Using about a quarter cup measure, shape dough into mounds and place 3 inches apart onto parchment paper or Silpat lined cookie sheets. Bake for 12 minutes or until just starting to set on top.
     -  Again, I just used cookie sheets... although I could also REALLY use a stonewear baking set like Nichelle's. So that brings us to my birthday wish list of- a stand alone mixer, bundt pan, miniature cupcake tins, a karaoke machine, and stonewear. ALSO, I didn't like how the cookies turned out at 12 minutes. They were just TOO MUSHY, and felt undercooked. Since I am always afraid someone is going to get salmonella off my cooking (says the girl who actually had salmonella back in October- YOU DON'T WANT IT), I stuck the next batch in for 14 and a half minutes. Much better!

7. Remove from the oven and press nine or ten mini-marshmallows at random onto the tops. Return the cookies to the oven and bake for another 2 minutes or just until the marshmallows start to soften. WATCH CAREFULLY. Do not allow the marshmallows to become too hot or they will melt. These cookies are best slightly underbaked.
     - Nine to ten?! UH, no, they barely fit three to four marshmallows.

8. Let rest on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes or until firm enough to handle before loosening with a large metal spatula. Remove to a wire cooling rack set over a jelly roll pan or a sheet of wax paper.

Glaze the Cookies

Combine the chocolate chips and the butter in a medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Melt together, stirring occasionally. [Or microwave for 30 seconds or so] Add the boiling water , ½ teaspoon at a time, to thin to a pouring consistency. Using a spoon or a fork, drizzle the glaze over each cookie. Let stand on the cooling racks until the glaze sets.

Note: I left out the boiling water, spooned the glaze into a heavy duty zipper bag, snipped a tiny hole in the bottom corner and squeezed the glaze out the corner.

KRISTEN NOTE: I left out the glaze entirely. Seriously. I tried ONE of the cookies and it was more than enough on it's own. The amount of sticky, sweet things in this cookie could put you into a sugar coma, so I left it off.

Well, the cookies turned out beautifully, Midge LOVED them (winner winner), and I left their house Sunday in one piece. She even asked for the recipe, so I must've done something all right... NOW, what else should I bake her...

PS- That one cookie was enough. These things are WAAAAAY too rich for me. Needless to say, Lori got the baggie of all the extras I didn't take to the Bairds. I'm sticking to my simpler cookies!! PLUS, guess who forgot to take a picture because I was in such a hurry to get to their house? Here is the picture the website provided, WITH the glaze.